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Tim Mannello
Williamsport
In his opening message as Pope, Leo XIV summed up the message of the Risen Christ: God loves us all unconditionally. He invites us to do the same..
To the throng that jammed in St. Peter's Square and the streets of Rome and to everyone in all corners of the earth, Pope Leo simply said: "God cares for us. God loves all of us, He calls us to build bridges -- with dialogue, with encounter, uniting all of us to be one people always in peace. We must seek together how to be a missionary Church, a Church that builds bridges and dialogue, always open to receive the people like those in this Square… with open arms -- everyone, all those who need our charity, our presence, dialogue and love."
A simple easy to understand message. That's all there is to what will be the central direction of his service as Pope: unity.
Unity that builds bridges to transcend nationalities, ideologies, rivalries, hatred, divisions, prejudices of all kinds. Bridges that extend to unite the divisive factions in the Church. Bridges that bring peace to the warring nations of the world. Bridges that bring together partisans within individual countries. Bridges to the poor, the suffering, the persecuted, the marginalized and the outcasts of the world's individual societies.
This vision of Pope Leo will be as hard to achieve as it is easy to understand. Yet that is the monumental challenge he invites us to take up with him, as together with all of us, he tries to tease out the implications of the words of the Risen Christ to a fractured world: "Peace be with you."