Fr. Z's Blog

Each year before Christmas, the Roman Pontiff has an audience with members of the Roman Curia. Back in the day, I used to accompany Card. Mayer. It was a wonderful experience with Pope John Paul II of happy memory.

You might remember Francis’ interminable hectoring jeremiads in which he lambasted and belittled pretty much everyone.  You might remember Benedict XVI’s supremely important first address in which he exposed (especially against the influence of Rahner) the contrast of hermeneutics of continuity and of discord.  HERE  It bears rereading.  That was TWENTY YEARS AGO TODAY, 22 December 2005.

Leo XIV had his first Christmas audience and message with the Curia. HERE There was a decidedly different tone. In English, the address is a bit over 1600 words, so it was about average for these addresses over time.

You should read it yourself, but it can be easily summarized.

Pope Leo XIV presents a vision of ecclesial unity rooted in two points: mission and communion. Christmas was God’s decisive “going forth” in the Incarnation. He frames unity – this is a major theme with him – as a Christ-centered communion ordered to evangelization, not institutional uniformity. Citing Evangelii Gaudium (Francis’ programmatic document penned in part by Tucho who plagiarized matierial), Leo said that the Church is missionary by nature because mission originates in the Trinity itself: God’s initiative in Christ continues through the Holy Spirit in the Church. Consequently, ecclesial structures, including the Roman Curia, must be judged by their service to evangelization. Administration alone is insufficient. Curial work must respond to present pastoral, ecclesial, and social challenges.

Mission is inseparable from communion. Christ’s mission reconciles humanity to the Father, making believers brothers and sisters. Leo warns against two threats to unity: rigid uniformity that suppresses legitimate diversity, and ideological fragmentation that absolutizes differences. True unity, expressed in the Augustinian formula In Illo uno unum (his motto – One, in Him), preserves diversity within the one Body of Christ and finds concrete expression in a synodal Church where all cooperate according to their charisms.

Addressing the Curia ad intra (within itself), Leo speaks frankly of temptations toward power, self-interest, and mistrust. Quoting Augustine of Hippo’s letter to the wealthy widow Proba (ep 130) on the rarity of genuine friendship, he asks whether true fraternal relationships are possible in the Curia. Such communion, he argues, requires personal conversion, transparency, and daily practices shaped by Christ’s love, not policies or documents.

This lived communion has an outward (ad extra – toward the world) dimension. In a world marked by conflict, polarization, and aggressive discourse amplified by digital media and politics the Church must be a prophetic sign of peace and universal fraternity. The Curia therefore serves not itself, but the Kingdom of God and the Church’s global mission.

The Pope situates this vision within major ecclesial milestones: the Jubilee Year, the Council of Nicaea, the Second Vatican Council, and the fiftieth anniversary of Paul VI’s Evangelii Nuntiandi, which taught that evangelization belongs to the whole Church and is first accomplished through the witness of a Christian life lived in communion.

Leo concluded with Dietrich Bonhoeffer on God’s closeness to human lowliness, calling the Curia to humility, compassion, and credibility. Unity in the Church comes where mission and communion converge in conformity to the humility of the Incarnate Lord.

So, it’s unity… unity… unity.

NB: Unity is not mere uniformity.  Didn’t I write that yesterday?  HERE

Again he leans hard on Francis’ programmatic Evangelii gaudium, which he seems to be making his own in some way.   He told the Cardinals in advance to read it before the upcoming consistory.