Lima Newsroom, May 30, 2025 / 16:53
Pope Leo XIV encouraged the anabaptist movement (mennonite) to live with love Christian unity and the mandate to serve others.
The Holy Father made the declaration in a message Posted on May 29 by the Vatican and sent to participants commemorating the 500th anniversary of the Anabaptiste movement in Zurich, Switzerland.
At the beginning of his message, Pope Leo stressed that “by receiving the peace of the Lord and accepting his appeal, which includes openness to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all the disciples of Jesus can immerse themselves in the radical novelty of the Christian and life. Indeed, such a desire for renewal characterizes the anabaptist movement itself. “
“The motto chosen for your celebration,” the courage to love “, especially reminds us of the need for Catholics and mennonites to do everything possible to live the command of love, the call to Christian unity and the mandate to serve others,” said Leo XIV.
Likewise, the pontiff’s text continues, the motto “underlines the need for honesty and kindness to reflect on our common history, which includes painful injuries and stories that affect Catholic-Mennonite relationships and perceptions to the present day.”
“What is the importance of the purification of memories and the common rereading of history which can allow us to cure past wounds and to build a new future through” courage to love “, he stressed.
“In addition, it is only in such a way that theological and pastoral dialogue can bear fruit, fruits that will last. It is certainly not an easy task! However, it is precisely at particular moments of the essay that Christ revealed the will of the Father: it is when he is disputed by the pharisés that he taught us that the two greatest commandments are to love God and our neighbor,” said the pope.
“It was on the eve of his passion,” he noted, “that he talked about the need for unity”, so that everything was … so that the world can believe. My wish for each of us is therefore that we can say with Saint-Augustin: “My hope is exclusively in your very great mercy.
In the context of “our world torn apart by war”, the Pope continued: “Our journey during healing and deepening of fraternity has a vital role to play, because the most united Christians are the most effective our witness to Christ, the Prince of Peace, strengthening a civilization of the loving encounter.”
Who are the mennonites?
Mennonites are an anabaptist Christian group which is from the Protestant reform of the 16th century.
Their name comes from Menno Simons, a Catholic priest who would become an important theologian of this movement.
The distinctive characteristics of mennonites are their pacifism or their rejection of war, their emphasis on baptism in adulthood and their community life in which they share goods and services and work together to maintain the community.
This story was published for the first time By ACI PRENSA, information partner in the Spanish language of CNA. It was translated and adapted by RNA.
Walter Sánchez Silva is the main writer for ACI PRENSA (https://www.aiciprennsa.com). With more than 15 years of experience, he reported important ecclesial events in Europe, Asia and Latin America during the Pontificats of Benedict XVI and Pope Francis. E-mail: walter@aciprensa.com
