33-40, COMMUNIQUE 2022 OK 2.CORR1.qxp_Culture 12/18/21 6:25 PM Page 33
Winter 2022
Issue 2
Unitas: Come, Rebuild My Church DEAR FRIENDS,
M
any years ago, in conversations with Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, we were encouraged to work for the unity of Christians throughout the world, without any compromise of the truths of the faith. We accepted that task, and everything we have done, the travels, the writing, the speaking, since the early 1990s, has been motivated by a desire to carry out that mission — not only for unity between Catholics and Orthodox, but also for unity within our own Catholic Church. The past two years, marked by the coming of the COVID virus and global lockdowns, have been filled with challenges, setbacks, difficulties, but also with victories for the cause of freedom and truth due to spiritual and moral heroism. For those of us committed to the hope of the promise — that sorrowing mankind could be redeemed and given abundant life through the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ — it has given space for reflection, for looking back upon “what we have done, and what we have left undone,” and for looking forward to the future — at times with dismay and disquiet at the “brave new world” that seems to be coming into being, but mostly with the determination to continue our work of bringing the message of Christ, and of the Church, to our troubled world. During this period, we began a profound process of discernment of what our work is, and what it should be. After 18 months of reaching out to those within our universal Church as well as our Orthodox brothers and sisters, it became clear we must continue, and build upon the work of almost 30
years of Urbi et Orbi Communications and Inside the Vatican magazine. Unitas: Come, Rebuild My Church was launched on the Feast of St. Francis: October 4, 2021. You will read more about this initiative in the following pages. In our world today, we hear much talk about the “Great Reset,” but as Christians we know that the only true “reset” comes through Christ, and that the transcendence of this fallen world cannot come through “transhumanism,” but through His grace and resurrection. Come with us now inside the pages of this Communiqué, and see how we are working to “rebuild His Church.” In Christ,
Editor, Inside the Vatican magazine Founder and President, Urbi et Orbi Communications
TABLE of CONTENTS Beginning a New Initiative.......…..2 Reflection...........................................4 News..............................................…5 Profiles...............................................6 Pilgrimages.......................................7 Digital Platforms..............................8
URBI ET ORBI COMMUNICATIONS u 14 W. MAIN ST., FRONT ROYAL, VA 22630 +1.202.536.4555 u UrbiEtOrbiCommunications.com. 1
