Pope Leo XIV encouraged the Anabaptist movement (Mennonites) to live with love the call to the unity of Christians and the mandate to serve others.
This was indicated by the Holy Father in A message published today by the Vatican and sent to the participants of the commemoration of the 500th anniversary of the Anabaptist movement in Zurich (Switzerland).
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Pope León highlighted at the beginning of his message that “upon receiving the peace of the Lord and accepting his call, which includes the opening to the gifts of the Holy Spirit, all the followers of Jesus can immerse themselves in the radical novelty of Christian faith and life. In fact, that desire for renewal characterizes the Anabaptist movement itself.”
“The motto chosen for your celebration, The value of lovingreminds us, above all, the need for Catholics and Mennonites to strive to live the commandment of love, the call to the unity of Christians and the mandate to serve others, ”said León XIV.
Likewise, the text of the Pontiff continues, the motto “points out the need for honesty and kindness when reflecting on our common history, which includes painful wounds and narratives that affect Catholic-Menonite relationships and perceptions to this day.”
“How important is that purification of memories and that common rereading in history that can heal the wounds of the past and build a new future through courage to love”He said.
“Moreover, only then, the theological and pastoral dialogue can bear fruit, fruits to last. Certainly, it is not an easy task. However, it was precisely in the moments of trial when Christ revealed the will of the Father: when he was questioned by the Pharisees, he taught us that the two most important commandments are to love God and the neighbor.”
Pope Leo XIV also stressed that “it was on the eve of his passion when he talked about the need for unity, ‘that everyone is … so that the world believes’ (Jn 17,21). My desire for each one of us is, then, that we can say with St. Augustine:’ All my hope is exclusively in your great mercy. He grants what you send, and send what you want.
In the context of “our world torn by war,” the Pope continued, “our continuous path of healing and deepening of the fraternity has a vital role to play, because the more united the Christians are, the more effective it will be our testimony of Christ, prince of peace, in the construction of a civilization of the meeting of love.”
Who are the Mennonites?
The Mennonites are an Anabaptist Christian group that originated during the radical Protestant reform of the 16th century.
His name comes from Menno Simons, a Catholic priest who would become an important theologian of this movement.
The Mennonites are distinguished by their pacifism or their rejection of wars, their emphasis on adulthood baptism, and community life in which they share goods and services, and where they work together to keep the community.
Walter Sánchez Silva
I am husband since 2008. With my wife we have three children here and one who went to heaven in 2023, before birth. Since I joined ACI Press in 2005, I have had the opportunity to cover various events of the Catholic Church. Among them, the World Youth Days in Colonia, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro and the apostolic trips of Pope Benedict XVI to Mexico and Pope Francis to South Korea. I have been sent to the Vatican to cover the family’s synods, in 2015; of the Amazon, in 2019 and that of Sinodality, in 2023. I follow the situation of the Catholic Church in Nicaragua, which suffers the persecution of the dictatorship of Daniel Ortega, as well as the ecclesial news in the region.