Cardinal Felipe Arizmendi, Bishop Emeritus of San Cristóbal de Las Casas and responsible for the Doctrine of the Faith at the Mexican Episcopal Conference (CEM), offers Exaudi readers his weekly article.

FACTS

Pope Leo XIV, in his first days of service as successor to Peter, has repeatedly insisted on the need to build bridges, striving to be a Church united within itself and in fraternal relationship with other religious denominations. This seems to be one of his most deeply felt concerns. Perhaps because he has known and suffered internal divisions within the Church over doctrinal, moral, and pastoral issues that may seem opposed and exclusive. The Pope wants us all to be faithful to the commandment of Jesus, who indicates the unity of his followers as a requirement for evangelizing the world. But not a merely strategic and opportunistic unity, but a unity that has its foundations in the Holy Trinity, where three distinct persons are one God, through love.

Divisions, unfortunately, have always existed in the Church, since apostolic times, which is no excuse for their continued existence. At first, there were disagreements because some wanted to impose Jewish norms on converts to Christianity from other cultures; the issue was analyzed, and with the inspiration of the Spirit, the decision was made not to do so. Over the years, many differences arose in defining central points of the faith, as some formulated them in one way and others in another. The Councils greatly contributed to the unity of faith, but there was never a lack of dissenters. The most serious divisions were between Catholics and Orthodox over certain doctrinal points and over not accepting the authority of the Pope, and the division between Catholics and Protestants or Evangelicals, due to their different interpretations of the Bible. These divisions have greatly harmed Jesus’s plan for his disciples to remain united.

Since the Second Vatican Council, held from 1962 to 1965, other internal divisions have emerged, due to different emphasis on the faith. Some lean more toward the devotional, the vertical, and others more toward the social commitment of the faith, the horizontal. Both dimensions are necessary and complementary; one dimension cannot exclude the other, like Jesus’ cross, which consists of a vertical and a horizontal pole. Like the right hand, which cannot exclude the left; they are different, but both need and complement each other; they are not scratching or excluding each other. Dialogue between the different ways of living the faith is required, and above all, much fraternal love. We all need each other.

ILLUMINATION

Last Sunday, on the occasion of the Jubilee of Families, the Pope said: Christ asks that we all be ‘one.’ This is the greatest good we can desire, because this universal union realizes among creatures the eternal communion of love that is God himself: the Father who gives life, the Son who receives it, and the Spirit who shares it. The Lord wants us, in order to be united, not to be aggregated into an indistinct mass like an anonymous block, but to be one: “As you, Father, are in me and I in you, may they also be one in us.” The unity for which Jesus prays is, therefore, a communion founded on the same love with which God loves, from which come life and salvation. And as such, it is above all a gift that Jesus brings with him. It is from his human heart that the Son of God addresses the Father, saying: “I in them and you in me, that they may be perfectly one, and the world may know that you sent me and that I loved them, even as you loved me.”

In his mercy, God has always desired to welcome all people into his embrace; And it is his life, which is given to us through Christ, that makes us one, that unites us with one another. As soon as we are born, we need others to live; we would not have succeeded alone. We owe it to someone else, who saved us, who took care of us, of our bodies and also of our spirits. We all live thanks to a relationship, that is, a free and liberating bond of humanity and mutual care.

It is true that, at times, this humanity is betrayed. For example, when freedom is invoked not to give life, but to take it away; not to protect, but to wound. Yet, even in the face of evil that divides and kills, Jesus continues to pray to the Father for us, and his prayer acts as a balm on our wounds, becoming a proclamation of forgiveness and reconciliation for all. This prayer of the Lord gives full meaning to the luminous moments of our mutual love, as parents, grandparents, sons, and daughters. And this is what we wish to proclaim to the world: we are here to be ‘one’ just as the Lord wants us to be ‘one’, in our families and in the places where we live, work, and study: different, but one; many, but one, always one, in every circumstance and age of life.

If we love one another like this, on the foundation of Christ, who is ‘the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end,’ we will be a sign of peace for all, in society and in the world. Let us not forget: the future of all peoples is born from the heart of families. The prayer of the Son of God, which gives us hope on our journey, also reminds us that one day we will all be one: one in the one Savior, embraced by the eternal love of God (June 1, 2025).

ACTIONS

Let us strive to maintain unity in our families, in our parishes, in our groups, and in society, humbly renouncing the proud attitude of believing ourselves to be the only good and holy ones. Let us love one another as brothers and sisters: different, but united in the love of Christ.