“As Bishop of Rome, I consider one of my priorities to be that of seeking the re-establishment of full and visible communion among all those who profess the same faith in God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” – Pope Leo XIV, in Papal letter released on Monday May 19
The recent election of Pope Leo XIV is a monumental moment in Christian history. Today, we’re honored to feature a reflection by Dr. Elizabeth M. Woodard, pastoral associate at Sacred Hearts Parish. Elizabeth is a Catholic theologian, musician, spiritual director, and author of Cruciform Ecumenism.
Below, she explores the power of the Holy Spirit to bind us together as one diverse Body in Christ, drawing from her experience in UB’s Christian unity cohort.
The selection of Pope Leo XIV this past week is an exciting event in the life of Christians worldwide. For many, it is a sign of Christian unity; for others, it is a stumbling block to unity. As a Roman Catholic theologian, I celebrate not just Pope Leo, but the office of bishop and the chair of Saint Peter in general, as a sign of unity among those who follow Christ. I believe that the office is the locus of the Church’s apostolicity, by which we claim not just any faith, but the faith Christ handed to the apostles. The succession of bishops and of popes demonstrates our continuity to the original, unchanged deposit of faith.
I know many of my brothers and sisters in Christ who belong to Protestant communions find the papacy divisive. The pope and the authority the Catholic Church attributes to him (as well as to all bishops), highlights the disparity between Christians who recognize that authority and those who do not. My Catholic ecclesiology is highly centralized. Christian communions who emphasize the role of the Holy Spirit more equally among all believers find the papacy to be a source of disunity among all Christ’s followers.
However, this isn’t the end of the story. I am filled with renewed hope for unity today than I have had in a long time. I was recently blessed to be part of a year-long unity cohort run by the Revs. Kelly Fassett and Devlin Scott of UniteBoston. It concluded with a retreat last weekend during which we finalized a “Beloved Community Lab” curriculum we had been working on throughout the year.
During the retreat, I was reminded of many of the reasons I am an ecumenist. I was reminded that the Church does not hold a monopoly on God; God is free to act in whatever ways he so chooses and through whichever people. I was reminded that God does, in fact, bless all the baptized with the power of the Holy Spirit to believe and to follow the Lord. This is a fact on which I believe both Catholics and Protestants agree. I was also reminded of the beautiful diversity among the body of Christ. During our weekend, we prayed on 1 Corinthians 12, that is Saint Paul’s metaphor of the Church (the Body of Christ) as a literal body. How boring (and ineffective!) it would be if hands tried to be eyes, or ears, feet.
I love my Church and I celebrate the newly begun pontificate of Pope Leo XIV. The first U.S. born Pope in the 2,000-year history of our Church, the 267th successor of Saint Peter is a Chicago Native who also later became a Peruvian citizen. He led the Augustians, a monastic order dedicated to the values of Saint Augustine, which includes “life in common.”
To this end, I recognize that even my own Catholic Church recognizes the unity among all the baptized. When someone already baptized becomes Catholic, the Catholic Church does not re-baptize them. They recognize the validity of all baptisms. Moreover, recent Popes such as Paul VI and John Paul II have emphasized the importance of ecumenism, writing, “Such division openly contradicts the will of Christ, scandalizes the world, and damages the holy cause of preaching the Gospel to every creature. But the Lord of Ages wisely and patiently follows out the plan of grace on our behalf, sinners that we are. In recent times more than ever before, He has been rousing divided Christians to remorse over their divisions and to a longing for unity…” (Unitatis Redintegratio, 1).
Furthermore, our newest Pope, Leo XIV, chose for his coat of arms a Latin phrase, In illo uno unum, or “In the One, we are one.” It beautifully calls to mind the holy enterprise of ecumenical unity, and John 17:21, in which Jesus prays, “I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.”
I pray that Pope Leo’s pontificate is one during which all Christians can remember and celebrate our unity in baptism, through which Christ claims us as his own and bestows in us the power of the Holy Spirit. This Spirit is not one of division, but one of unity, in which we all together call God “Abba!” This translates as “father,” or, more intimately, “daddy.” As we look to the Holy Father as the vicar of Christ who taught us to call God our Father, I pray that this era may be one of greater and greater unity among Christians. Though we disagree on certain matters of ecclesiology and theology, do we not together cry to God, in the name of Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit, “Abba?”
I pray that God might help me see all Christians more clearly in their diverse beauty as my brothers and sisters in Christ, celebrating our uniqueness, our unity-in-diversity, much as we celebrate the variety of gifts within our friend groups or our families. May we all grow in holiness, and together seek daily conversion of heart and mind in the Holy Spirit, that we might be “one in the one.”
More on Pope Leo:
- Pope Leo XIV’s Papal letter from 5/19/25 stating that he seeks to build on Pope Francis’ legacy of fraternal relations
- Archbishop Henning says Pope Leo XIV is a “Gift to the Church” (Boston Pilot)
- Prayers for Pope Leo (Rev. Mariama White-Hammondl, New Roots Church)
- Pope Leo’s Motto and Coat of Arms (Vatican News)
- Orthodox leaders welcome Leo XIV’s election as ‘sign of hope’ for Christian unity (La Croix International)
- What Pope Leo Has Said about Five Key Issues (National Catholic Register)
Excellent throughout! Here’s my “punny Pope-post” in the interest of keeping lite/humorous dialogue going!🤭
On Calling Leo XIV the
First “American” Pope
by Michael Tessman(c)
Words are very important to me; rankings less so, yet they’ve become everything “rank” 😷 in the race to be the best! “Besting” may be in vogue, while unconditional loving is secondary (even tertiary) by many social standards! God help us!
My desire is to lovingly say things correctly [“right” without being or sounding “righteous”] so wish me luck🍀(I’m part Irish)!
Firstly, following a ghastly gaffe (POtUSrump as “the next Pope”) it’s important to keep “good humor” (ice cream🍦included) alive!🤣 Let’s try laughing with, not at, one another! Laughter can be holy; may it be so, especially right now! And, let’s just see if we can do it justice, on our own (without a writ of habeas corpus by SCOTUS) let alone another hostile rite of passage for beleaguered migrants! 😩Enough already!
Secondly, as a genuine lover of nuance I enjoy letting ebullient proclaimers of the “first American Pope!” know that +Francis has “first dibs” rights and honors as an Argentine 🇦🇷 (South)“American”. Furthermore, +Leo is a “dual” (‘due’ in 🇮🇹 Italian) “American”: a 🇺🇸 U.S.A. born North American citizen and a Peruvian🇵🇪 South American citizen! It’s only right, correct?😎
Granted, dual citizenship isn’t that big of a deal (after all, I’m both a U.S.A. 🇺🇸born and 🇮🇪Irish “grandfathered” citizen) but “dual American” citizenship is a very big deal, statistically high ranking and not worth a duel between SCOTUS & POTUS! Let us give Pope Leo his ‘due’ (sic) and, while we’re at it declare the time long over-due (sic) for a “cease and desist”Executive Order by DOGE and/or the present POTUS: NO MORE American🇺🇸exclusivism! Enough already😓! Right? Correct: “Americans” come from the Straits of Magellan to the Arctic Circle and everywhere in between: south, central, and north! Are we there yet?
Once again, give the new Pope his due: “twice” an American (and yes, a Chicagoan = “Second City” – two/too!) while first and foremost, a man of God in Christ; prime(a)[“first” and/or “best” in a general sense] Christian!
Fourth (but, not yet finally), the Vatican City🇻🇦is his earthly home (both City and State); Rome(a) is his diocese! “The city and the world” (“Urbi et Orbi” – as his annual Easter blessing will attest) affords him dual authority, already having due(al) citizenship! By my count that’s 2+2=4 or, 🇮🇹quattro; yes, twice-over “…on earth” and “…as it is in heaven!” That’s catholic, universal, even cosmic!
Now, as any Roman👃nose🤥knows🤔, that’s doubly rank; divinely sent and, yes, a very heavenly scent at that! Frankincense ranks over Myhrr 🤗✝️😇☦️: we are newly blessed and less incensed over the death-knells among Christians, West vs. East, North vs. South, Orthodox vs. Catholic and/or Protestant! Unhappy divisions are being trumped by unconditional LOVE!
Even as Leo XIV expands his namesake’s legacy by boldly advancing restorative justice for the vulnerable weak, the socially marginalized, and economically undervalued laborers, perhaps, as a bold Ecumenical gesture, he will reverse Leo XIII’s 1896 Bull: Apostolicae Curae declaring “all Anglican Orders are absolutely null and utterly void.” Nearly 50 years ago, an interview with +Basil Cardinal Hume [Church Times 28 July 1978] suggests it’s long overdue!
While an awesome thing to find forgiving, reconciling, unconditionally loving and eternally living Christians, let’s “just do/due (sic) it!”
Michael Tessman
“No Longer Null & Void?” in
Wakefield Rhode Island
🇺🇸 North America