LWF welcomes Pope Leo’s focus on unity and service

Lutheran leaders meet with the first Augustinian pope and take part in Sunday Mass for the inauguration of his ministry

(LWI) - The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) General Secretary Rev. Dr Anne Burghardt and Assistant General Secretary for Ecumenical Relations, Prof. Dr Dirk Lange met with the new Pope Leo XIV on 19 May during an audience for ecumenical and interfaith leaders who had travelled to Rome to take part in the official inauguration of his ministry.

In his greeting to the group, the Pope highlighted his longstanding commitment to Christian unity, saying: “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.”

The American-born pope, who was elected during the conclave on 8 May, recalled the motto which he chose when he became bishop of the diocese of Chiclayo in Peru in 2014: “In the one Christ, we are one,” an expression used by St Augustine, founder of the religious order in which the new pontiff studied and was ordained to the priesthood in 1982.

Lange said he was delighted to hear the new pope reaffirming his intention to continue the paths of dialogue and synodality begun by his predecessor, Pope Francis, highlighting the close links between ecumenism and synodality. Pope Leo also stressed the importance of this year’s 1700^th anniversary of the First Ecumenical Council of Nicaea which, he said, “represents a milestone in the formulation of the Creed shared by all Churches” and all Christian communities.

 Addressing representatives of other religions, in particular Jewish and Muslim leaders, the pope said: “Now is the time for dialogue and building bridges.” He reiterated his conviction that “if we are in agreement and free from ideological and political conditioning, we can be effective in saying ‘no’ to war and ‘yes’ to peace, ‘no’ to the arms race and ‘yes’ to disarmament, ‘no’ to an economy that impoverishes people and the Earth and ‘yes’ to integral development.”

On the previous day, the ecumenical and interreligious leaders joined dignitaries, heads of government and some two hundred thousand pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square for a Mass marking the official start of the new pope’s ministry. The liturgy began with prayers inside the Basilica at the tomb of the Apostle Peter and included several symbolic moments, as the new pope received a ring depicting Peter the fisherman, and a white wool band or papal Pallium, signifying Peter’s commission by Jesus, the Good Shephard.   

LWF General Secretary Burghardt said she welcomed Pope Leo’s words at the Mass, highlighting his Augustinian roots. “We rejoiced to hear him calling on all brothers and sisters to work for unity and to be a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world’.” She noted that unity and service were key themes of the new pope’s sermon, as he said: “I was chosen, without any merit of my own, and now, with fear and trembling, I come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, for he wants us all to be united in one family.” 

The pope noted insisted that “unity, communion and fraternity” are essential in a world marked by “too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest.” Appealing in particular for peace in Gaza, in Myanmar and in Ukraine, he urged all Catholics, “also with our sister Christian churches, with those who follow other religious paths, with those who are searching for God, with all women and men of good will [....] to build a new world where peace reigns.”