Unity has been the master theme of Pope Leo XIV’s first year

In the weeks leading up to the conclave that would elect Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost, the New York Times published an article with the headline: “As Cardinals Prepare to Elect a Pope, One Motto Is ‘Unity.’ That’s Divisive.”

It didn’t age well.

Unity, as it turns out, has been a master theme—arguably, the master theme—of the first year of the first American pope since his election on May 8, 2025. And the motto, which for this “Son of Saint Augustine” has deep Augustinian roots, has been anything but divisive.

Though his references to unity over the past year are far too numerous to catalog in full here, a sampling of some key moments reveals three concentric circles of unity radiating outward: unity among all Catholics, unity among all Christians, and unity among all people.

Catholic unity

While uniting fellow Catholics would seem to be the lowest hanging fruit, divisions in the Church—like divisions in a family—are, in some ways, the most stubborn and sensitive of all. And internal strife has been a worsening problem over the past decade: Pope Francis, a “pope of polarities,” was a deeply polarizing figure, and from a broader societal point of view, the Church has been badly infected by political partisanship and a “culture of contempt.” For Catholics, tribalism has become, as it has everywhere else, the new normal.

Leo stepped into this fractious environment with undeniable grace and care. Indeed, before he uttered a single word, his actions spoke volumes: His papal name hearkened to Leo XIII, a bridge figure who emphasized both the Church’s traditional foundations and its social teachings. And though the world heard the name of another New World pope—to Rome from Chicago by way of Chiclayo—Leo XIV emerged on the loggia in the traditional red mozzetta and stole bypassed by Francis. Even his episcopal motto, a line from Augustine that he carried with him into the papacy and has referenced several times since, spoke of unity: In Illo uno unum (“In that One, [we are] one”).

In his first address, Leo’s first word was “peace,” and he spoke of a “united” Church “joining together as one people, always at peace.” And in his first homily, he proclaimed, “I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.” The tone set in these first days only continued in other signal “firsts.” In his first apostolic exhortation, Dilexi Te, Leo spoke of communion (expressed also in a “communion of goods”) as “the Church’s vocation.” In his first catechesis on Vatican II, he spoke of the Church as “a mystery of communion and sacrament of unity.” And on the first day of his visit to Algeria, he opened once more with the word of “peace” and spoke of believers who “thirst” for unity: “In the face of a humanity yearning for fraternity and reconciliation, it is a great gift and a sacred duty for us to declare with conviction that we are always united as brothers and sisters, children of the one God!”

Leo has gone on to emphasize Church unity not only to bishops (“Stay united and do not defend your­selves against the provocations of the Spirit”) but also to lay associations: “Seek to spread everywhere this unity that you yourselves experience. . . . Draw close to all those whom you meet, so that your charisms may ever be at the service of the unity of the Church.”

Why is this unity so close to Leo’s heart? Not only because it was likewise close to Augustine’s, but also because the one Church is, as Leo explains, the place of deepest unity with the Triune God: “The Church [is a] communion of believers, enlivened by the Holy Spirit, who enables us to enter into the perfect communion and harmony of the blessed Trinity.” And this unity with God—as members of the “whole Christ”—is, he noted in his first month, “the prerequisite for the inner unity of individuals, so necessary today, in this age of fragmentation.”

Christian unity

While divisions among Catholics are especially complex, divisions between Christians more broadly—especially since the Reformation—are especially copious. There are now, by conservative estimates, over nine thousand denominations. A Spirit-led ecumenical revival in the twentieth century that crested in the 1970s—a story traced in a new docudrama hitting theaters in May—has stalled out. But Christians seem to be drawing closer to one another again—a movement in which the pope is already very much playing a key part.

Within two weeks of his election, Leo was already naming Christian unity, which had “always been a constant concern” for him, as a priority for his papacy: “We Christians, then, are all called to pray and work together to reach this goal, step by step, which is and remains the work of the Holy Spirit.” He took one such step later that month on the commemoration, in Zurich, of 500 years of the Anabaptist movement, summoning Catholics and Mennonites to live out “the call to Christian unity”: “The more united Christians are the more effective will be our witness to Christ.”

Leo, providentially, also became pope just before the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea. He seized the opportunity, continuing to build bridges with the East established by his predecessors. On November 23, he issued the apostolic letter In Unitate Fidei (In the Unity of Faith), writing, “Truly, what unites us is much greater than what divides us! . . . In order to carry out this ministry credibly, we must walk together to reach unity and reconciliation among all Christians. The Nicene Creed can be the basis and reference point for this journey.”

Days later, Leo undertook his first apostolic journey to Turkey to commemorate Nicaea together with Patriarch Bartholomew. The two issued a joint declaration affirming the “hoped-for restoration of full communion between our sister Churches.” This significant anniversary, the two proclaimed, might also “inspire new and courageous steps on the path towards unity,” including working toward celebrating Easter on the same day.

At the start of 2026, opening the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, Leo invited all Catholics “to deepen their prayers for the full, visible unity of all Christians.” And at its close, reflecting on Saint Paul’s repeated invocation of the oneness of Christian life (Eph. 4:4–6), he called for action: “We are one! We already are! Let us recognize it, experience it, and make it visible!”

Human unity

This drive toward Christian unity goes back, of course, to Jesus’s own prayer the night before he died: that his followers might “be one,” as he and the Father are one (John 17:11, 21, 22). But the whole purpose of this unity, Jesus added, was the conversion of the world: Christians must be one “so that the world may believe”—indeed, that the world may know—that God sent his Son for our salvation (21, 23).

Thus, these three concentric circles—while distinct from a historical standpoint—are, in the mind of the Church, ultimately meant to merge into one great circle: the gathering of all people to Christ’s body (John 12:32). Thus, the Church also reaches out to the wider world to draw it into the rhythm of God’s unity—and this, too, has already been part of Leo’s program.

In October, marking the 60th anniversary of Nostra Aetate, Vatican II’s declaration on non-Christian religions, Leo spoke of interreligious unity to representatives of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism: “More than ever, our world needs our unity. . . . If we are united, everything is possible. Let us ensure that nothing divides us.” During his visit to Algiers this past month, Leo emphasized especially Christian dialogue with Muslims: “This very basilica is a sign of our desire for peace and unity. It symbolizes a Church of living stones, where communion between Christians and Muslims takes shape under the mantle of Our Lady of Africa.”

Leo has also called the wider secular world to social unity—a human harmony that reflects, however incompletely, the harmony of the city of God. Nostra Aetate, he also said, “reminds us that humanity is drawing closer together, and that it is the task of the Church to promote unity and love among men and women, and among nations.” And in his January “state of the world” address to diplomats, he called on the United Nations to pursue policies “aimed at the unity of the human family instead of ideologies.”

In this social arena, artificial intelligence—given its unique power both to address and aggravate social and political divisions—will undoubtedly be a key battleground for Leo. Early in his papacy, he indicated that one of his key motivators for his papal name was a desire to tackle, like Leo XIII before him, the unique social upheavals of our time—in particular, AI.

Indeed, it’s expected to be a key theme of his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, which will reportedly release next week on May 15, the anniversary of Leo XIII’s Rerum Novarum.

More than words

Are all of these documents, addresses, and statements by Pope Leo XIV just empty talk? Hardly—the pope has also been eager to embody the drive toward unity, principally through in-person meetings and dialogues. Leo, shaped by his years in the Order of Saint Augustine, not only has a great passion for unity but also for the drivers of unity—friendship, dialogue, and attentive listening. Thus, he’s met, unassumingly and even-handedly, with Catholic figures from across the theological spectrum; with Christians of various denominational backgrounds; and with public figures of every sort, from Hollywood stars to heads of state. Much of this, of course, is typical of the papal office, but Leo—also a veritable polyglot—clearly brings a tenor of peaceful, measured bridge-building to these encounters.

Nevertheless, as the honeymoon period of Leo’s first year comes to a close, a question lingers: What happens now? While the inspiring statements and cordial greetings will no doubt continue—and have to if unity is to be achieved—hard decisions abound.

Within the Church itself, Leo’s episcopal appointments have been seen as balanced and steady, but a wave of major sees will need to be filled in the coming years; advocates of the Traditional Latin Mass, still reeling from Traditionis Custodes, are increasingly antsy for greater recognition; and the planned consecrations of new bishops by the SSPX and the ongoing resistance of the German bishops to the Church’s sexual teachings threaten fresh fractures.

Within the broader Christian community, dramatic splits in both the Orthodox and Anglican communions have left some sounding the death knells of Christian unity. In his meeting with Sarah Mullally, the first female archbishop of Canterbury, Leo emphasized, as is his wont, “the need for unity,” but also confessed that new problems have made the path to full communion “more difficult to discern”—a characterization that could well apply to any number of Christian bodies. All the goodwill in the world, it seems, isn’t enough to overcome the deep theological and historical issues that keep the brethren separated.

And within the global community, uncertainty and fragmentation continue to be the warp and woof of the new roaring twenties. The growing prominence of digital life, the radical reshaping of the economic and social realities, and a Middle Eastern conflict with global implications all pose formidable challenges, on all levels, to Leo’s quest for unity and peace.

This “Son of Saint Augustine” was the right man for this moment—a spiritually charged time in which any future seems possible. But seizing that moment for unity will require not just the kindness of the Augustinian heart but also the boldness of the Augustinian mind. Can authentic communion be reached without leading the Church head-first into difficult conversations, theological precisions, and decisive actions—in a word, into great sacrifice? We very well might be standing on the threshold of a wave of new unities—a domino effect of the Spirit renewing the face of the earth.

But what has to be left behind to cross it? And what has to be clung to mightily in the crossing, lest we fall for a counterfeit communion?

These are big questions. Heavy is the head that wears the papal crown—all the more so in such a tensive time in world history. But while we cannot say what the Pope will do next, we can certainly pray for him in his mission of unity, and join him in his prayer to the Holy Spirit:

Holy Spirit of God, you guide believers along the path of history.

We thank you for inspiring the Symbols of Faith and for stirring in our hearts the joy of professing our salvation in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, consubstantial with the Father. Without him, we can do nothing.

Eternal Spirit of God, rejuvenate the faith of the Church from age to age. Help us to deepen it and to return always to the essentials in order to proclaim it.

So that our witness in the world may not be futile, come, Holy Spirit, with your fire of grace, to revive our faith, to enkindle us with hope, to inflame us with charity.

Come, divine Comforter, source of harmony, unite the hearts and minds of believers. Come and grant us to taste the beauty of communion.

Come, Love of the Father and the Son, gather us into the one flock of Christ.

Show us the ways to follow, so that with your wisdom, we become once again what we are in Christ: one, so that the world may believe. Amen.