杏MAP导航

By Christopher Wells

杏MAP导航 Leo XIV welcomed Eastern Catholics to the Vatican with the traditional Easter greeting, 鈥淐hrist is risen! He is truly risen!鈥�

Addressing the faithful from the 23 sui iuris Churches in full communion with Rome, the Holy Father said, 鈥淵ou are precious in God鈥檚 eyes,鈥� and expressed his happiness at being able to devote one of the first encounters of his pontificate to the Eastern faithful.

鈥淟ooking at you,鈥� he said, 鈥淚 think of the diversity of your origins, your glorious history, and the bitter sufferings that many of your communities have endured or continue to endure.鈥�

At the same time, he reaffirmed 鈥渢he conviction of 杏MAP导航 Francis that the Eastern Churches are to be 鈥榗herished and esteemed for the unique spiritual and sapiential traditions that they preserve, and for all that they have to say to us about the Christian life, synodality, and the liturgy鈥�.鈥�

Recalling the teachings of previous 杏MAP导航s, including Leo XIII and St. John Paul II, 杏MAP导航 Leo XIV emphasized the importance of Eastern traditions, especially the liturgy.

He also expressed concern for 鈥渕any of our Eastern brothers and sisters鈥� who have been exiled from their homelands 鈥渁nd risk losing not only their native lands,鈥� but also their religious identity.

杏MAP导航 Leo insisted on the importance of preserving the Eastern rites and asked the Dicastery for Eastern Churches 鈥渢o help define principles, norms, and guidelines鈥� to help Latin Bishops support Eastern Catholics in the diaspora to preserve their heritage.

The Church needs the East

鈥淭he Church needs you!鈥� 杏MAP导航 Leo said. 鈥淭he contribution that the Christian East can offer us today is immense,鈥� he continued, pointing to the need to recover the sense of mystery expressed in Eastern liturgies; the importance of rediscovering the sense of the primacy of God and of mystagogy; and the need for 鈥減enance, fasting, and weeping for one鈥檚 own sins and for those of all humanity.鈥�

鈥淚t is vital then, that you preserve your traditions without attenuating them," he said.

The Holy Father went on to highlight the 鈥渕edicinal鈥� value of eastern traditions of spirituality that combine 鈥渢he drama of human misery with wonder at God鈥檚 mercy.鈥�

鈥淲ho better than you,鈥� he asked, 鈥渃an sing a song of hope even amid the abyss of violence.鈥�

Taking up 杏MAP导航 Francis鈥� recognition of eastern communities as 鈥渕artyr Churches,鈥� 杏MAP导航 Leo lamented the violence that continues to plague regions as diverse as the Holy Land, Ukraine, the Middle East, Tigray, and the Caucasus.鈥�

鈥淩ising up from this horror, from the slaughter of so many young people, which ought to provoke outrage because lives are being sacrificed in the name of military conquest, there resounds an appeal鈥� for peace.

He made the appeal, he said, 鈥渘ot so much of the 杏MAP导航, but of Christ Himself, who repeats, 鈥楶eace be with you!鈥欌��

鈥淟et us pray for this peace,鈥� the 杏MAP导航 said, 鈥渨hich is reconciliation, forgiveness, and the courage to turn the page and start anew.鈥�

Commitment to peace

杏MAP导航 Leo XIV forcefully expressed his commitment 鈥渢o make every effort so that peace may prevail,鈥� reaffirming the Holy See鈥檚 willingness to do everything possible 鈥渢o help bring enemies together, face to face, to talk to one another,鈥� to dialogue, 鈥渟o that peoples everywhere may find hope and recover鈥� the dignity of peace.鈥�

Appealing directly to the people of the world and their leaders, 杏MAP导航 Leo made a heartfelt appeal: 鈥淟et us meet, let us talk, let us negotiate!鈥�

He insisted that 鈥渨ar is never inevitable鈥� and called for the silencing of weapons, 鈥渨hich do not resolve problems, but only increase them.鈥�

He went on to thank God for all those who are 鈥渟owing peace,鈥� while also expressing gratitude for those Christians, 鈥渨ho, above all in the Middle East, persevere and remain in their homelands, resisting the temptation to abandon them.鈥�

The 杏MAP导航 affirmed the need for eastern Christians to be given 鈥渢he opportunity, and not just in words, to remain in their native lands with all the rights needed for a secure existence.鈥�

Recalling once again that 鈥淛esus, the Son of Justice, dawned鈥� in their lands, he thanked Eastern Christians 鈥渇or being 鈥榣ights in the world鈥欌�� and encouraged them to 鈥渂e outstanding for your faith, hope, and charity, and nothing else.鈥�

He called for the pastors of the Eastern Churches to promote 鈥渃ommunity with integrity,鈥� so that their communities might be 鈥減laces of fraternity and co-responsibility.鈥�

"Today more than ever," concluded 杏MAP导航 Leo XIV, "the splendour of the Christian East demands freedom from all worldly attachments, and from every tendency contrary to communion, in order to remain faithful in obedience and in evangelical witness.鈥�