VATICAN: Pope Leo XIV: Unity Attracts, Division Scatters the Church
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
At the opening of the two-day Extraordinary Consistory of Cardinals in the Synod Hall on Wednesday, January 7, Pope Leo XIV reminded about 170 Cardinals from across the globe who gathered in Rome for the first Consistory since his Pontificate that, “While unity attracts, division scatters.”
Speaking from both spiritual tradition and the laws of physics, the Holy Father explained that the Church’s ability to draw humanity toward Christ depends entirely on the quality of its internal communion. He emphasized that the Church does not grow through proselytism, but through “attraction,” a force powered by Agape, the selfless love of God.
In this case, he said, when the Church is divided, that attractive power is lost, and the mission of the Gospel is weakened.
The Pope’s address framed the “missionary Church” not as a marketing entity, but as a “channel” for the love flowing from the Heart of the Saviour.
“It is not the Church that attracts, but Christ,” the holy Father told the gathered Cardinals, noting that the world is only drawn to the Gospel when it sees a community that truly loves one another as Christ commanded.
According to the Holy Father, the Consistory has brought together a remarkably diverse group of Cardinals from a wide range of cultures, academic paths, and pastoral experiences, which he says should not be a source of friction, but as an opportunity for collegiality.
The Pontiff noted that the goal of this first meeting is for the Cardinals to get to know one another and to dialogue to better serve the Church, and that the outcome is not intended to produce a formal text, but to sustain a conversation that assists the Pope in his Petrine ministry.
During the two-day gathering, the Cardinals are expected to narrow their focus to two of four primary themes that is Evangelii Gaudium which is the mission of the Church in the modern world, Praedicate Evangelium on the service of the Holy See to local Churches, Synodality which focusses on using cooperation as both an instrument and a style of governance and Liturgy which is the source and summit of Christian life.
The Pope asked the Cardinals to identify priorities for the next two years, guiding the actions of both the Holy Father and the Roman Curia.
He concluded by invoking the wisdom of the ancient Romans, Non multa sed multum (not many things, but much), urging the Cardinals to speak ‘succinctly’ so that every voice can be heard in the spirit of “fraternity and sincere friendship.”
