If Christians lose their identity they cannot be united, Father Philip Goyret says.<\/p>\n
Ecumenical dialogue is especially important in a time when Christian belief and practice are on the decline, said one Catholic expert during the Jan. 18\u201325 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is happening today is that the secularization [of society] is incredibly strong \u2026 and the temptation among Christian traditions is to step back,\u201d Father Philip Goyret, an ecclesiology professor at Rome\u2019s Pontifical University of the Holy Cross, told EWTN News.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if [Christians] step back, we lose our identity, and we cannot be united,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is a serious concern.\u201d<\/p>\n
Goyret said it is evident that the theological principles of \u201cunity\u201d and \u201ccommunion\u201d have become important policies of Leo\u2019s pontificate, as summarized in his papal motto, \u201cIn Illo uno unum\u201d (\u201cIn the one Christ we are one\u201d).<\/p>\n
\u201cLeo, from the very beginning, has said that he wants to be the pope of unity, and that is extremely linked with ecumenism,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
When Leo first stepped out onto the Loggia of Blessings of St. Peter\u2019s Basilica in May last year, he said humanity needs God and stressed the need for a \u201cunited Church\u201d in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
\u201cTherefore, without fear, united hand in hand with God and among ourselves, let us move forward,\u201d the pope said in his May 8 address. \u201cWe are disciples of Christ. Christ goes before us. The world needs his light.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two months after his election, Pope Leo shed further light on his desire to forge the belief, identity, and mission of the Church.<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe very strongly in Jesus Christ and believe that that\u2019s my priority, because I\u2019m the bishop of Rome and successor of Peter, and the pope needs to help people understand, especially Christians, Catholics, that this is who we are,\u201d the pope told the Catholic website Crux in July 2025.<\/p>\n
Noting the Holy Father\u2019s particular emphasis on Christian identity and witness as key to advancing ecumenical relations among churches, Goyret said Leo\u2019s predecessors have also shown commitment to promoting unity among the faithful through different approaches.<\/p>\n
Pope Francis placed great attention to engaging in dialogue with Eastern and Orthodox Churches, while Pope Benedict XVI is recognized for his 2009 apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, which structurally supported Anglicans seeking full communion with the Catholic Church.<\/p>\n
\u201cPope Francis presented himself as \u2018bishop of Rome,\u2019 and that\u2019s very significant because that title is the way that Eastern non-Catholic Christians understand the Petrine ministry,\u201d he said, recalling the late pope\u2019s first urbi et orbi address in 2013. \u201cIt was an invitation for dialogue.\u201d<\/p>\n
By focusing on the Vatican II documents Unitatis Redintegratio (Restoration of Unity) and Lumen Gentium (Light of the Nations), Goyret said Pope Benedict\u2019s approach to ecumenical dialogue encouraged academic study and the faithful living of Christian traditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you dig and dig into these different traditions, you will eventually discover the Church as Jesus Christ wished it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Speaking on the theme of the 2026 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, \u201cOne Body, One Spirit,\u201d Goyret said there is a great need for Christians to be united in prayer and hope to strengthen faith in God in a secularized world.<\/p>\n
\u201cPope Leo said that we have to pray in this Week of Prayer for Christian Unity,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Church needs our prayers especially because the unity of the Church is a gift of God.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t build it ourselves through negotiation. It\u2019s not diplomatic and it\u2019s not political,\u201d he added. \u201cIf we want to restore unity to the Church, we have to ask God for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
This article was originally published by EWTN News English.<\/p>\n