By Devin Watkins
Pope Leo XIV met on Wednesday with Bishops associated with the Focolare Movement, formally known as the Work of Mary, founded in Italy in 1943 by Chiara Lubich.
In his address, the Pope said the Bishops’ encounter expresses their collegial affection as friends of the Focolare Movement, noting that they hail from various countries and social situations.
Pope Leo praised their focus on “Giving Witness to Unity,” saying the theme of unity is dear to his heart.
“In an age sadly marked by increasing polarization,” he said, “our Lord enabled to give witness to both the sense and service of unity, thus becoming a sign for her own and future generations.”
The Church continues to bear this task, added the Pope, saying he recalls the “prejudice, racism, religious intolerance, and even violence” that the Bishops face in their countries.
In the West, he noted, the formerly-stable networks of family, friendship, and community are succumbing to deep fragmentation.
As societies become more marked by individualism, freedom is increasingly presented as “absolute autonomy,” so that people may pursue happiness “without any moral, natural, or even human limits.”
“And yet we observe a paradox,” said Pope Leo. “For all the emphasis on individual freedom, people today frequently feel less free to be their genuine selves or follow their highest ideals, out of a hidden fear of being judged or of not fitting in.”
This loss of openness to others worsens our sense of disunity and indeed takes away our happiness, which the Pope said we find only in communion with the Triune God.
“In revealing the heart of the Father, Christ shows us the deepest meaning of our existence, of our relationships, and the path to happiness,” he said. “Through the gift of the Spirit, we have become children of God, sharers in the divine life”.
By embracing our communion as children of God in Christ, we take part in the Church’s mystery of communion and act as a sign of leaven and unity in our world.
In conclusion, Pope Leo XIV invited the Bishops associated with the Focolare Movement to bear witness to “this longed-for unity of the human family.”
“The answer to the sad divisions that plague our world,” he said, “lies not in forming more committees or launching more projects, but in going back to the source of our unity in the Holy Trinity.” – Vatican News
