On April 24, two decades ago, the Mass for the enthronement of the Pope was celebrated Benedict XVI and, this year, we witness the moment in which Pope Leo XIV inaugurates his pontificate by receiving the fisherman's ring. and the archiepiscopal pallium in which, in one way or another, all believers, all members of the flock of the Eternal Shepherd, are represented. We entrust to him as the Church militant or pilgrim Church this task of guiding all Christianity with his words, his actions and his teaching to the great goal of Christians, to be the Church triumphant in Heaven.
Living this moment must be a moment of joy for all Catholics; an event that marks the continuity of the Apostolic Tradition and whose particular symbolism, today more than ever, is centered on the Chair of St. Peter, who bears witness to Christ before the world. Its symbolism is even a reality, it is the experience, the assumption of a power entrusted to him by Christ himself: to rule, to teach, to bind and to loose.
These words should really impose themselves on our senses and should make us think that the person himself and his universal vocation to holiness are at stake when listening to the Shepherd and the one to whom he himself has entrusted the flock. To rule is closely linked to obedience, obedience to faith and doctrine, and no longer to one's own or personal ideas, but to the obedience of the true faith.
Unity in diversity
It is curious that Pope Benedict XVI recognized in his magisterium that "unity is the sign of recognition, the calling card of the Church throughout her universal history" (Benedict XVI. "In this sense, unity in diversity has manifested itself repeatedly throughout history, and it is a diversity that is not provoked and encouraged by eminently human forces; on the contrary, the enclosure of the Church is a sign that the Holy Spirit does not dwell in them: for this reason, to live as brothers is the work of the third person of the Trinity. The Church in her diversity is majestic, living, present and militant, she has a goal which is none other than Heaven; meanwhile, God himself maintains his Church through the sacraments.
Henri de Lubac emphasizes that since we are children by baptism, which is born of the same side of Christ, we will never finish contemplating this mystery, we will never exhaust it, for "It advances like a river and like a fire. It catches up with each one of us at the right moment, to make new springs of living water gush forth in us and to light a new flame. The Church is an institution that endures by virtue of the divine power received from its founder" (Henri de Lubac, "Meditation on the Church", 2011).
Diversity is a richness for the Church, which is a mother; and her children, who are brothers and sisters by faith, are capable of discovering the experience of community in every corner of the world where they meet another baptized person. This faith, the same faith on the other side of the world, the same experience of faith that has been transmitted by the apostles and that makes us followers and lovers of the truth. Only by discovering the gift can we bring Christ to others; only by constantly nourishing ourselves with his Word and the Eucharist can we have the strength and the moral disposition to make him known so that what we say about him is eminently credible.
The Pope's mission in the Church
Christ, after showing his majesty and power in the Resurrection, never abandons his people, but rather institutes the Church in Peter, as its visible head, as the one to whom he entrusts the mission of "feeding his sheep". (Jn 21:17), only because he loves him and loves us. The project of Jesus, he himself entrusts it to men, the Lord trusts in those who, despite their weakness, he knows will be assisted by a power that surpasses them, that surpasses us, it is a project that is not human, it is divine, almost like an antechamber of heaven on earth, and through his Church, the means are within reach so that "all men may be saved and come to the knowledge of the Truth".
"This Church, established and organized in this world as a society, subsists in the Catholic Church, governed by the successor of Peter and by the Bishops in communion with him" (LG 8). Now, communion implies a collaboration of the hierarchy, in virtue of the fact that they also possess the power to rule the people of God, to rule them so that they always discover that the center of the Christian life, in the different circumstances, is to see Christ, to contemplate him, to be with him (cf. Mk 3:13).
"Now I say to you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the power of hell shall not overthrow it" (Mt 16:18). So it has been for almost two millennia. The house is built on stone, not on sand; it stands firm on the foundation of the apostles. The union between heaven, which is the Church, starts from her already triumphant at the wedding of the Lamb.
Power in Heaven and on Earth
The power of the Supreme Pontiff reaches the whole earth, but at the same time it also reaches Heaven: "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (Mt 16:19). Therefore, the office of representing Christ is necessary in every time, "walking together", to a large extent means that we all have the same faith.
If we look at Peter's profession "You are the son of the living God" (Mt 16:16), Peter's task is to make those words resound throughout the world, in every time and circumstance, it is to carry the Cross, also the victory of the Resurrection, waiting for the promise of the "Μαραν αθα".
To pray for the intentions of the Holy Father is to unite ourselves as Church to the one to whom the Lord entrusts the flock, it is an obligation to pray every day for him, for his life and for the many evils he may suffer. Obedience is not something that is something "past", neither is respect, it is to see how Jesus himself continues to lead the Church towards him, where one day we can see him "as he is" and that the veil that covers the Church is uncovered and we can see her true face with the one who is the head, Christ.
St. Joseph and St. Mary, protectors of the Church
Finally, let us not forget the powerful intercession of St. Mary Mother of the Church, of St. Joseph the Patron of the universal Church, who protect the Church on pilgrimage in this world. Holy Mary, Virgin and Mother, Virgin by Divine Grace and Mother of sinners, without Her who is "Θεοτόκος", Mother of the Church, model of holiness for all the faithful by trusting fully in God, without Her ─repito─ we could not assume the vocation to live the communion in the Church, in a particular way, in the case that concerns us in our days, with the Pope, to live fully the communion of saints.
As St. Josemaría said with great confidence and radicalism about the present times in which Pope Leo XIV is beginning to make his way: "Omnes cum Petro ad Iesum per Mariam," that is, "All with Peter, to Jesus through Mary" ("It is Christ who passes by," 139).
