My soul blesses the Lord who leads me to discover His wonders in the Eternal City. The second week in Rome was rich in diverse activities and extraordinary experiences. For this reason, I keep my state of grace saying: “blessed the Lord, O my soul.”
Attending the feast at the Basilica of Saint Peter and Saint Paul was a significant experience. The mass included a well-organized liturgy with many prelates from the Roman Catholic Church and delegates from the Ecumenical Patriarchate. Pope Leo officiated the service, creating a deeply prayerful atmosphere. The celebration's use of multiple languages helped attendees connect more easily to the spiritual meaning. In my opinion, this Mass was very meaningful in an ecumenical context, in the way it integrated diverse cultures that reflect the diversity of gifts from the Holy Spirit and used Latin as an element of unity.
Mass of the Feast of the Basilica of Saint Peter and Saint Paul
This unity I observed in the celebration of the feast of Rome's patron saints was also the main insight discussed in this week's lectures. We were studying the efforts made by Christians to achieve unity among themselves. One of the phrases that confirms the necessity to seek how walking together is, “if the enemy divides us in death, who are we to be divided in life.” So, it is necessary for each Christian to respond to God's covenant, which entails gifts and responsibilities. It is our responsibility to practice dialogue that entails valuing each other's human character and participating in koinonia through our commitment to diaconia. We should take the Trinity's communion as an example and let the Holy Spirit lead us, since he works beyond the visible borders of the Catholic Church.
So, the ecumenical movement invites us to be aware of the church's real role in the world. It is an invitation for Christians to work for the sake of humanity by seeking to be witnesses to the faith for justice, peace, and the integrity of creation. This mission of the church comes from the mission of Christ, the spouse of the Church, who invites it to embrace the cause of people rejected by society. The church as the spouse and body of Christ should continue the action of Christ. All the churches of Christ are united in the service for the common good. So, Christians will proclaim by their living that Christ is the life of the World. Each person is invited to be humble and move away from all prideful character that prevents them from accepting the other. We should avoid division, which is the root of the common evil or some kind of institutionalization of evil. This invitation echoes the first week of the spiritual exercise, which invites us to meditate on the social sin that prevents us from collaborating for the unity and harmony of creation.
The tour in the Scavi — beneath the basilica of Saint Peter — was also significant for me because it helped me understand how history coexists. The Pagan cemetery and the Christian cemetery were preserved and protected as witnesses to history, and they also serve to demonstrate how the work of ecumenism is important for uniting us up to the death.
Tomb of Saint Peter
The visits to the dicasteries were also particularly memorable because we learned from their representatives’ different perspectives on ecumenism and interreligious faith. During this journey, emphasis was placed on the necessity of heart conversion, because ecumenism is not absorption but conversion to Christ. So, in this way, we should change our vision about others and change our language by being attentive to the spirit of listening and perseverance, which is the challenge for ecumenism and interreligious dialogue. Photo Dicastery
Painting in the Dicastery for Interreligious Dialogue
“Blessed the Lord, O my soul,” because you have permitted and opened my eyes to understand that ecumenism is an invitation to convert the heart — ad intra — by looking ongoing with the ministry of Christ toward the poor in the church and for the sake of the world.
Pierre-Reginald Milorme, SJ
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