One in Christ / Daniel Conway

Let us proclaim the faith as one voice united in Christ

(En Espanol)

Unity is a consistent theme in the teaching and preaching of Pope Leo XIV. His papal motto, In Illo Uno Unum (In the One Christ We Are One), is taken from St. Augustine’s commentary on Psalm 127, and it stresses the fact that while we Christians are many, we are united as one body in the person of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Unity is not achieved by human efforts alone. In fact, our best endeavors often result in separation and division rather than in unity. To succeed in bringing people together and maintaining harmony and peace among diverse cultures and points of view, we must surrender our egos and allow the grace of God to intervene in our lives and to heal our brokenness.

St. Paul is the New Testament figure who best exemplifies the movement from ego-driven divisiveness to the ability to bring together and reconcile communities torn apart by factions and conflicting loyalties. As Pope Leo observed in his homily for the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul on Jan. 25:

In his First Letter to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul refers to himself as “the least of the Apostles” [1 Cor 15:9]. He considers himself unworthy of this title because he had once been a persecutor of the Church of God. Nevertheless, he is not a prisoner of that past, but rather a “prisoner in the Lord” [Eph 4:1]. It was indeed by the grace of God that Paul came to know the risen Lord Jesus, who revealed himself first to Peter, then to the other Apostles and to hundreds of other followers of the Way, and finally also to him, a persecutor [cf. 1 Cor 15:3-8].

The man who was known as Saul before his conversion was a driven man. His self-righteous zeal was intended to scatter and divide his enemies, but the Risen Lord intervened. As the Holy Father says, “By the grace of God, the one who once persecuted Jesus has been completely transformed into his witness. The one who once fiercely opposed the name of Christ now preaches his love with burning zeal.”

This radical transformation from a persecutor—one who divides—to a missionary disciple—someone called to bring together the people who follow Jesus—is essential to achieving true unity. “We are reminded,” the Holy Father says, “that [St. Paul’s] mission is also the mission of all Christians today: to proclaim Christ and to invite everyone to place their trust in him.”

Our mission as disciples of Jesus is to unify by the grace of God what Satan is working overtime to divide. As the pope teaches us, “Every authentic encounter with the Lord is, in fact, a transformative moment that grants a new vision and a new direction for the task of building up the body of Christ [cf. Eph 4:12].”

According to Pope Leo, it is the shared task of all Christians to say humbly and joyfully to the world: “Look to Christ! Come closer to him! Welcome his word that enlightens and consoles!” (Homily of the Mass for the beginning of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, May 18, 2025). 

In the Jan. 25 homily, he noted that the Lord invites us to renew our commitment to the great unifying mission we have received from Christ, “bearing in mind that the divisions among us—while they do not prevent the light of Christ from shining—nonetheless make the face which must reflect it to the world less radiant.”

In his Letter to the Ephesians (cf. Eph 4:4-6), St. Paul repeatedly uses the adjective “one.” He tells us that there is one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God.

In his homily for the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, the Holy Father asked:

[H]ow can these inspired words not touch us deeply? How can our hearts not burn within us when we hear them? Yes, “we share the same faith in the one and only God, the Father of all people; we confess together the one Lord and true Son of God, Jesus Christ, and the one Holy Spirit, who inspires us and impels us towards full unity and the common witness to the Gospel” [November 23, 2025, Apostolic letter “In Unitate Fidei,” #12]! We are one! We already are! Let us recognize it, experience it and make it visible!

“May the Holy Spirit find in us docile minds even today,” Pope Leo continued, “so that we may proclaim the faith with one voice to the men and women of our time!”
 

(Daniel Conway is a member of The Criterion’s editorial committee.) †