He was aiming to further solidify his outreach to the Muslim community and to offer support to Bahrain's small Christian minority.

Pope Francis and the King

Francis's first official engagement was a courtesy visit to King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa at the Sakhir Royal Palace. There he was welcomed in an official ceremony.

Human Rights

Human rights and Bahrain's constitution were particular issues Francis raised with the King.

He cited the Bahraini constitution and urged "equal dignity and equal opportunities... for each group and for every individual". (In Bahrain Shias have fewer rights than Sunnis.)

This is "so that fundamental human rights are not violated but promoted", he said.

Religious freedom must be "complete and not limited to freedom of worship.

"I am thinking in particular of the right to life, of the need to always guarantee it, even with regard to those who are punished."

At present, 26 people are on death row in Bahrain. The only thing standing between them and their execution is the king's approval.

Francis also called for "humane working conditions" and condemned forced labour in neighbouring Qatar, where the World Cup will begin later this month.

"Men and women" must never be "reduced instead to a mere means of producing wealth," Francis said.

Joining forces for peace

Peace can be achieved only by moving beyond past conflicts, he said.

Instead, we need to join forces to promote the common good, Francis explained when he met Bahrain's Muslim Council of Elders on Friday.

This means getting to know one another, putting "a future of fraternity ahead of a past of antagonism ... the name of the One who is the source of peace."

The great religious traditions "must be the heart that unites the members of the body, the soul that gives hope and life to its highest aspirations."

Prior to the meeting, Francis delivered one of three keynote speeches at the closing session of "Bahrain Forum for Dialogue: East and West for Human Coexistence".

About 200 figures, leaders and religious representatives from around the world took part in the event.

Among them was was Grand Imam of Al-Azhar in Egypt, Ahmed Al-Tayeb.

Like Francis, the Imam delivered a keynote speech. The other was delivered by King Hamad, who was the forum patron.

Francis called on interfaith leaders to be "exemplary models of what we preach, not only in our communities and in our homes - for this is no longer enough - but also before a world now unified and globalised."

As members of the Abrahamic faiths, they must look outside themselves and "speak to the entire human community, to all who dwell on this earth".

Unity in diversity

An ecumenical prayer meeting for peace at Our Lady of Arabia Cathedral was also on Francis's agenda.

Striving for "unity in diversity" will help the Christian community as a whole achieve peace, he told the Christian leaders at the meeting.

Source

• La Croix
• Brussels Times
• Middle East Monitor
• Crux Now
• Crux Now

Sadly, one of the things Catholics fight over is the Eucharist. In his June 29 apostolic letter to the Catholic people, Pope Francis decries this division while describing the Eucharist as the sacrament of unity.

The letter, "Desiderio Desideravi" ("I have earnestly desired"), gives full-throated support to the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council, which called for full, conscious and active participation of the laity in the Eucharist. Francis is clearly saddened by those who reject the reforms that the council found absolutely necessary.

The pope does not see the pre-Vatican II liturgy as equal to the reformed liturgy, which was meant to be the liturgy of the entire church. "I intend that this unity be re-established in the whole Church," he writes. "We cannot go back to that ritual form which the Council fathers, cum Petro et sub Petro, felt the need to reform."

The Eucharist is essential to the life of the church, according to Francis' letter. In the Eucharist, "we are guaranteed the possibility of encountering the Lord Jesus and of having the power of his Paschal Mystery reach us," he wrote. But this is done not as individuals but as a community: "The liturgy does not say ‘I' but ‘we.'"

He connects the Eucharist to Pentecost, when, according to the Book of Acts, the Christian community received the Spirit after Jesus ascended to heaven.

"It is the community of Pentecost that is able to break the Bread in the certain knowledge that the Lord is alive, risen from the dead, present with his word, with his gestures, with the offering of His Body and His Blood," he wrote.

"Only the Church of Pentecost can conceive of the human being as a person, open to a full relationship with God, with creation, and with one's brothers and sisters."

"Liturgy is about praise," requiring docility to the Holy Spirit, who appeared on Pentecost in the form of tongues of fire on the apostles' heads.

The pope said, "It does not have to do with an abstract mental process, but with becoming Him." He cites Pope Leo the Great, who wrote, "Our participation in the Body and Blood of Christ has no other end than to make us become that which we eat."

Francis does not want the Eucharist to "be spoiled by a superficial and foreshortened understanding of its value or, worse yet, by its being exploited in service of some ideological vision, no matter what the hue."

The art of celebrating the Eucharist "cannot be reduced to only a rubrical mechanism, much less should it be thought of as imaginative — sometimes wild — creativity without rules."

Both types of celebrants tend to make themselves, rather than Christ, the centre of the liturgy.

Francis speaks extensively of the paschal mystery but distinguishes this from "the vague expression ‘sense of mystery,'" which conservative critics say was removed from the liturgy by the reforms.

"The astonishment or wonder of which I speak is not some sort of being overcome in the face of an obscure reality or a mysterious rite. It is, on the contrary, marvelling at the fact that the salvific plan of God has been revealed in the paschal deed of Jesus (cf. Eph 1:3-14), and the power of this paschal deed continues to reach us in the celebration of the ‘mysteries,' of the sacraments," the pope wrote, referring to the Letter of Paul to the Ephesians.

Francis' letter contains numerous quotable lines, like those cited above, that can inspire and educate Catholics in their participation in the Eucharist, but despite Francis' intentions, this letter will be more helpful to seminary professors than the faithful at large. It is filled with exhortations on the necessity of liturgical formation, but it is not itself a catechetical work.

The letter is a heartfelt cry to end the liturgical wars and enter into the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection. Francis explicitly notes this in his first line by linking it to his 2021 motu proprio "Traditionis custodes," which put limits on the celebration of the old rite.

"The non-acceptance of the liturgical reform," he writes, "distracts us from the obligation of finding responses to the question that I come back to repeating: how can we grow in our capacity to live in full the liturgical action?

"How do we continue to let ourselves be amazed at what happens in the celebration under our very eyes? We are in need of a serious and dynamic liturgical formation."

In truth, this is why I do not find the letter all that helpful because he never fully answers these questions.

The pope has allowed himself to be distracted by dissenters, focusing on the concerns of a small but vocal minority opposed to the reforms of the council.

This makes the letter of little interest to the vast majority of Catholics who do not oppose the reforms but need to be drawn deeper into the mystery of the Eucharist.

Sadly, there is much ignorance among Catholics (including bishops and priests) about the Eucharist.

Too many Catholics still think that the purpose of the Eucharist is to make Christ present on the altar so that we can adore him.

That is fine for Benediction, but the Eucharist is where the Christian community remembers the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, gives praise and thanks to the Father, unites itself with the sacrifice of Christ and asks that the Spirit transform us into the body of Christ so that we can continue his mission on earth.

This is the heart of the Eucharist as seen in the Eucharistic prayer proclaimed at Mass.

Francis, we need another letter, one that helps the average Catholic understand and participate in the Eucharist.

• Thomas Reese SJ is a senior analyst at Religion News Service, and a former columnist at National Catholic Reporter, and a former editor-in-chief of the weekly Catholic magazine America. First published in RNS. Republished with permission.

The ceremonies were, in part, a response to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's recent instruction forbidding such blessings and reiterating the Church's traditional teaching regarding marriage and homosexual acts.

Evidently, the ceremonies were performed mostly in more liberal German parishes and shunned in more conservative areas, an indication of deepening disunity. Conservative Catholic commentators praised the CDF's actions and characterized the blessings as schismatic.

But then the prefect of the CDF turned his attention to the United States.

A number of American bishops want the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to issue a statement urging that President Joe Biden be denied Communion because of his support for legal abortion and same-sex marriage.

Much to the outrage of many of the same conservative Catholics who praised the Vatican for holding firm on sexual morality, Rome threw cold water on the wisdom of such a statement.

Presumably, such a confrontational step would, like the blessing of same-sex marriages, undermine the unity of the bishops' conference and the larger Church.

It would also require approval from the pope, who has cautioned that an obsession with abortion politics divides and distracts the Church.

Conservative commentators deplored the Vatican's interference, denouncing Rome's supposed heavy hand in language one is more used to hearing from liberals.

During the papacies of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, conservative Catholics demanded complete fealty to the papacy and repeatedly urged the pope to rein in those they considered unorthodox.

The removal of the editor of America magazine, Thomas Reese, SJ, was one of the more notorious Vatican actions during those years.

But now that there's a pope with a very different style and message, conservatives have decided that many of the decisions coming from Rome warrant scepticism and resistance, not obedience.

You can call this intellectual inconsistency or hypocrisy, which in many instances it is.

But it is as common among so-called progressive Catholics as it is among conservative ones.

Predictably, there has been little criticism from progressives of the same-sex marriage blessings in Germany, even though those actions threaten the unity of the Church in the same way that the efforts of some American bishops to bar Biden from Communion do.

Whatever one's views on same-sex marriage, Catholics should be concerned that, while some find such gestures pastoral and compassionate, many others perceive them as signs of further fragmentation in the Church.

Those who work for change should recognize that how change comes about can be just as important as the change itself. Continue reading

• Paul Baumann is Commonweal's senior writer.
• Image: National Review

The planned subject — "For a synodal Church: communion, participation and mission" — remains the same but the new means adopted are now more intrinsically suited to such a topic.

The Synod of Bishops has been changing in the 21st century.

Previously, under Pope John Paul II, they were stale events, with bishops reading canned speeches and amending a text that had been prepared in advance.

Pope Benedict XVI introduced the innovation of allowing anyone to speak on any topic in the final hour of each day's general assembly, what I called "the karaoke hour."

Pope Francis has further increased the amount of genuine dialogue at each synod and now will broaden that dialogue with a universal period of preparation at the diocesan level, followed by a continent-wide dialogue, and finally the meeting in Rome.

What is more, as Cardinal Mario Grech, secretary-general of the Synod of Bishops, made clear in announcing the new schedule, the consultation is intended to include the whole people of God.

"The governing principle of this consultation of the people of God is contained in the ancient principle 'that which touches upon all must be approved by all,' " Grech said in an interview.

"This is not about democracy, or populism or anything like that. Rather, it is the church that as the people of God, a people who by virtue of baptism, is an active subject in the life and mission of the church."

The churches of Latin America have been the most successful so far in developing a synodal process with the meetings of their continent-wide episcopal conference, CELAM.

The meetings include a great deal of prayer, beginning with prayer together for several days before turning to business items.

The documents they have produced — at Medellin, Puebla, Santo Domingo, Aparecida — have been among the most theologically fertile post-conciliar texts.

Ecclesiologist Massimo Faggioli recently wrote about synodality — albeit before the announcement from the Vatican — and about the ways it does, and does not, reflect models of sociopolitical organization in the ambient culture.

"The modern theology of synodality originates chronologically in contemporary theology of the Catholic Church, and geographically within societies in the liberal-democratic order in the Western hemisphere," he wrote.

"This is not just a coincidence."

We will look forward to Faggioli and other theologians explaining this lack of coincidence in greater detail!

Theologians — start your engines!

Indeed, Faggioli already has another column on this subject that examines some of the global issues in greater detail.

Certainly, in the history of the U.S. church, the provincial councils and, later, plenary councils of Baltimore reflected a synodal model in the 19th century. In the 20th century, the bishops' conference sometimes channelled a similar approach, overcoming wide differences of opinion at the outset of a discussion and yet forging a consensus.

For example, their 1983 pastoral letter "The Challenge of Peace: God's Promise and Our Response" was debated for more than two years, and the final vote was a nearly unanimous 238-9.

In 2004, on the contentious issue of Communion for pro-choice politicians, the bishops' conference adopted a document, "Catholics in Political Life", by a vote of 183-6.

In recent years, regrettably, the U.S. bishops have lost much of their ability to work together; indeed they do not seem to like each other very much, and so I worry how they will manage to engage in this new and promising synodal process. Continue reading

So says Father Sylvain Brison, ecclesiologist, assistant professor at the Faculty of Theology of the Catholic Institute of Paris.

Brison unpacks the pope's comments about schism in the Church with Anne-Bénédicte Hoffner.

Are we schismatic when we criticize the pope or when one writes to the pope about having doubts, as four cardinals did after the Synod on the Family?

In his press conference given on the plane back from Madagascar, the pope clearly reminds us that schism is an attack on the unity of God's people, not only on their hierarchy.

One can criticize the pope and his actions: there is no single thought in the Church. Whoever says that the pope is "communist" is not strictly speaking about a schism. This includes those cardinals who have expressed their doubts to the pope, as long as they remain with him in an open dialogue.

Communion does not mean "uniformity." As Christians, we have different ways of seeking to live the Gospel, with different charisms and gifts. Rather, communion would be a way of living our differences harmoniously.

What is a schism in Catholic theology?

The schism is a rupture of communion with the Church. This definition is both the simplest and most traditional.

The fathers of the Church, who were confronted with this problem very early on, were particularly sensitive to the ruptures of communion in the content of faith.

In their time, every schism was a heresy and every heresy was a schism. This is because the unity of the Church is based on the unity of faith and not the unity of practice. Catholics all believe the same thing but they do not all practice the same way everywhere.

So when does communion break down?

In the history of the Church, the great schisms have been ruptures of communion on questions of faith: on the Trinity, on the human and divine nature of Christ.

A schism can concern the nature of the Church, as soon as the conflict touches the deposit of faith.

Followers of [Archbishop Marcel] Lefebvre, for example, have created a schism by refusing to recognize the Second Vatican Council's doctrinal authority and the pope's authority over the appointment of bishops.

This was demonstrated in 1988 when Archbishop Lefebvre consecrated bishops without a papal mandate.

When are criticisms dangerous for the Church?

The problem arises when they undermine the unity of God's people and therefore of faith.

In other words, continuously and repeatedly questioning the pope's authority and accusing him of heresy can lead to a schism. Basically, and as the pope says, the problem is not so much criticism as the attitude behind it: is it about building unity or dividing?

Today, there are undoubtedly doctrinal, disciplinary and ideological differences between the pope and certain Catholic currents — American, German and others.

These differences are normal and we do not consider that there is a schism as soon as a group enters into resistance against the pope — otherwise there would have been many in the history of the Church! What is no longer normal is when these differences conflict to the point of threatening the unity in a front-on rejection.

Can there be 'silent' schisms, as the pope implied?

Some people marginalize themselves from the communion of the Church because they no longer recognize themselves in a certain form of expression of faith.

It is not an organized action against unity but, at the same time, it is an attack on communion in the Church.

The duty of the pope and also of every Christian is to preserve the unity of the faith, whatever the cost, because we believe that there is no salvation outside the communion of the Church.

A schism is therefore always a failure, on both sides.

• Anne-Bénédicte Hoffner unpacks the pope's comments about schism with French Theologian Fr Sylvain Brison. She writes in La Croix International.
• Image: Amazon.fr

Preaching at a Mass on May 8 at his Santa Marta residence, the Pope said if this movement of the Spirit is welcomed with prayer and a spirit of dialogue, it always generates unity between Christians.

The Pope was preaching on a reading from the Acts of the Apostles, which dealt with the Council of Jerusalem.

At issue was whether Jewish laws should be imposed on early Christians.

Paul of Tarsus was strongly opposed to this.

Pope Francis asked "How do they resolve this problem?"

"They hold a meeting and each person gives his opinion, his views," the Pope said.

"They discuss this issue, but like brothers and sisters and not like enemies.

"They don't form external lobbies in order to win, they don't go to the civil authorities in order to win and they don't kill in order to triumph.

"They seek the path of prayer and dialogue. Those who had opposing views have a dialogue with the other side and they reach an agreement.

"This is the work of the Holy Spirit."

Pope Francis stressed that the Holy Spirit moves towards harmony and that was why the Council of Jerusalem was able to agree on a final decision.

"A Church where there are never problems of this type makes me think that the Holy Spirit is not very present within it," the Pope noted.

"And a Church where its people are always arguing and there are lobbies and people are betraying their brothers and sisters, is a Church where there is no Holy Spirit!

"It's the Spirit which creates change, which creates the momentum for going ahead, that creates new spaces, that creates that wisdom which Jesus promised: ‘It will teach you!'

"This moves things, but is also what at the end creates the harmonious unity between everyone."

Sources

• Vatican Radio
• Image: The Church in Malta

The walk will coincide with the double centenary of the first message preached by missionary Samuel Marsden.

"I have a heart for this nation and seeing unity among the people, in particular unity and forgiveness between the tribes and iwi with each other and with their European brothers and sisters," he says.

"I feel that God has asked me to walk the length of the country with a cross and two flags - one being the New Zealand flag and the other being the Tino Rangatiratanga flag, to signify the two people groups. Continue reading

I spoke with a small fraction of the massive crowd that filled the streets near the Vatican, but every one of them agreed: Two popes, two saints, two more reasons to be happy.

Much of the commentariat - and I include myself in that class — has found issues to explore in this double canonization: the fast-tracking of John Paul II, the waiving of the second miracle for John XXIII, the politics of saintmaking and the ongoing tensions over the Second Vatican Council.

I've maintained that the double canonisation is a unifying move by Pope Francis, an attempt to build a bridge between constituencies in the church who identify with the "liberal" John XXIII or the more "conservative" John Paul II.

I still believe that's true. But among those in today's crowd, and probably throughout the global Catholic population, that kind of analysis was not all that relevant.

"The were both good people, holy men. John XXIII was a man of vision. John Paul II was a man of action. But they had the same intention - to bring the church closer to the people," said Rosemary Fabregas, a Catholic from San Francisco who sat in front of a Jumbrotron screen outside St Peter's Square.

An Italian pilgrim, asked about the saints' differences, put it this way:

"Differences? I don't know. The important thing is that they were both very spiritual and they both loved the poor." Continue reading.

John Thavis is a journalist, author and speaker specialising in Vatican and religious affairs.

Source: John Thavis

Image: Salt&Light/YouTube

That's because the Anglicans and Presbyterians had their St Andrew's Awatere Christian Joint Venture Church, in Seddon, destroyed by the jolt.

And, in the spirit of Christianity, the Catholic community opened their doors to their wandering neighbours.

Awatere Christian Joint Venture committee chairman Rob Cameron said the two religions had always been comfortable together in the Awatere.

"Out there, community is stronger than denomination," he said. "It's been really helpful for us, if we didn't have that place, we would be moving around every week. The Catholics worship at 8am and have a cup of tea after their service. We join them for that and when they go home, we have our worship."

The committee was still waiting on an engineer's report to see if their church would be salvaged or demolished, Dr Cameron said.

"It's [still] out of bounds but that's how we came to worship with the Catholics. It's very harmonious and celebrated on both sides."

Dr Cameron was speaking at a church service for former Awatere and Flaxbourne residents in Blenheim last week.

They hold an annual service to keep up-to-date with life in the region.

Dr Cameron showed the group a slideshow of quake-damaged buildings, including the Awatere Christian Joint Venture church.

Former vicar Miriam Taylor held the service at the Church of Nativity and said the new relationship between Catholics and Protestants was a wonderful outcome of the earthquake.

"There has always been a wonderful unity of spirit between the churches anyway but this has been particularly special," Reverend Taylor said. "It's sad to see the church like that but it reminds people that the church is not the building, the church is the people."

Source:

• Stuff.co.nz
• Image: Stuff.co.nz

He says the church should not get involved in party politics, but rather communicate through God's values of love, peace and justice.

Chong said the church could help society in a teaching role; helping to form the mind and the attitude of the people so they could participate effectively in politics.

"As Christians, we need to bring in the vision of God and make sure that this things are not eroded from the general policies."

"The church must speak from God's stand." Chong said the Church has an important role to play in ensuring that God's values are part of government's values.

"If they don't have that background, they will only bring their experience and culture.

Chong has pointed out that the church and religion plays an important role times of transition — first during colonialism, then independence and now the coup-culture.

Archbishop Chong has also called upon all people of faith and goodwill to unite and work together for the sake of peace and justice the lead up to the elections in 2014.

He said unity is the lesson to be learned from his ordination, which he said, reached across the diverse ethnic and religious communities in Fiji. "It created a sense of unity that Fiji needs - a multicultural and multi-religious unity,"

"Elaborating Chong said: "The liturgy and especially the Ordination Rites touched the thousands of people that were present. As I went down through the congregation to give my blessing I could hear people sobbing with tears."

He said Fiji had gone through trying times, however religion must be the beacon of hope.

Source

• The Fiji Times
• Fiji Sun
• Image: FijiLive

"How can we have Christian unity if we are unable to find unity among us Catholics? To have unity in our families? How many families are fighting? Seek unity," he urged.

Speaking to a gathering of at least 50,000 people, Pope Francis explained the Second Vatican Council's concept of the Church as the "body of Christ".

"The Church is not a charitable, cultural or political association, but a living body, that walks and acts in history," he said. "And this body has a head, Jesus, who guides, feeds and supports it. This is a point I want to emphasise: if the head is separated from the rest of the body, the whole person cannot survive."

He continued: "Let us remember this well: being part of the Church means being united to Christ and receiving from him the divine life that makes us live as Christians; it means remaining united to the Pope and the bishops who are instruments of unity and communion, and also means overcoming personal interests and divisions, in order to understand each other better, to harmonise the variety and richness of each member; in a word, to love God and the people who are next to us more, in the family, in the parish, in the associations."

Pope Francis revealed that earlier that morning he had spent over half an hour in prayer with an evangelical pastor, praying for unity in the Church.

"Unity is a grace we must ask from the Lord so that he would free us from the temptation of division, fights among us, selfishness and complaining about each other — how much damage, how much evil that chatter creates," he said.

"How much damage is created by divisions among Catholics and between Christian communities. Evangelical Christians, Orthodox Christians, Catholic Christians — why are we divided? We must try to bring unity.

"Pray that the Lord would give us unity," he said.

Sources:

Vatican Radio

Catholic News Service

Vatican Information Service

Image: Vatican News

The Pope gratefully recalled that Archbishop Welby prayed for him during the ceremony when he took possession of Canterbury Cathedral.

"Since we began our respective ministries within days of each other, I think we will always have a particular reason to support one another in prayer," he said.

"The history of relations between the Church of England and the Catholic Church is long and complex, and not without pain," the Pope acknowledged.

"Recent decades, however, have been marked by a journey of rapprochement and fraternity, and for this we give heartfelt thanks to God."

Pope Francis also expressed his gratitude for "the sincere efforts that the Church of England has made to understand the reasons that led my predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, to provide a canonical structure able to respond to the wishes of those groups of Anglicans who have asked to be received collectively into the Catholic Church".

The Pope said this structure "will enable the spiritual, liturgical, and pastoral traditions that form the Anglican patrimony to be better known and appreciated in the Catholic world".

Wearing the episcopal ring given by Pope Paul VI to Archbishop Michael Ramsey back in 1966, the leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion said: "I am full of love and gratitude to be here."

"Having for many years found inspiration in the great corpus of Catholic social teaching, and worked on its implications with Catholic groups; having spent retreats in new orders of the Church in France, and being accompanied by the prior of another new order; I do indeed feel that I am (in the words of Pope Paul VI to Archbishop Michael) coming to a place where I can feel myself at home," Archbishop Welby said.

Stressing the need for unity he added: "It is only as the world sees Christians growing visibly in unity that it will accept through us the divine message of peace and reconciliation."

Sources:

Vatican Radio

Vatican Information Service

Image: The Times

"For my part, I wish to assure, in the wake of my predecessors, the firm wish to continue on the path of ecumenical dialogue," he said.

The Pope was greeted by the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, Bartholomew I — the first Orthodox patriarch to attend a papal inauguration since 1054 — who also reiterated the need for the churches to shun worldly distractions and to work on the unity between Christians.

Pope Francis listened to the words of the patriarch seated on an armchair rather than the throne that is customarily used in the Clementine Hall.

He thanked Bartholomew I, calling him "my brother Andrew", since the patriarchs of Constantinople are considered the successors of the Apostle Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter.

He then said that, thanks to the presence at the inauguration Mass of representatives of the various churches, he felt "in an even more urgent fashion, the prayer for unity of all believers in Christ, and together to see somehow prefigured the full realisation of full unity, which depends on God's plan and our loyal collaboration".

Addressing the representatives of the Jewish communities, the Pope emphasised "the very special spiritual bond" that they have with Christians.

The Pope then greeted those belonging to other religious traditions, first of all the Muslims who "adore the one, living, and merciful God and who call upon him in prayer".

Then, addressing all those gathered, he said: "I really appreciate your presence. In it I see a tangible sign of the desire to grow in mutual respect and co-operation for the common good of humanity."

The Pope also expressed a feeling of closeness "to all men and women who, although not claiming to belong to any religious tradition, still feel themselves to be in search of truth, goodness, and beauty".

Sources:

Vatican Radio

Vatican Information Service

Vatican Insider

Image: Patheos