{"id":186496,"date":"2026-01-20T00:01:31","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T05:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/?p=186496&#038;preview=true&#038;preview_id=186496"},"modified":"2025-12-18T17:06:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T22:06:05","slug":"ask-a-priest-why-the-emphasis-on-christian-unity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-why-the-emphasis-on-christian-unity\/","title":{"rendered":"Ask a Priest: &#8220;Why the Emphasis on \u2018Christian Unity&#8217;?&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"186496\" class=\"elementor elementor-186496\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div data-particle_enable=\"false\" data-particle-mobile-disabled=\"false\" class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-881dae8 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"881dae8\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-5186be0e elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"5186be0e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<blockquote><address>Q: I recall the Synod on Synodality and Pope Francis\u2019 mentioning &#8220;Christian unity.&#8221; What do they mean by this? From my understanding, it seems that this is not about the conversion of non-Catholics to the Catholic faith. Which would be different than what I have read in the encyclical of Pope Pius XI on religious unity, Mortalium Animos. Please help me have better clarity on the matter. Thank you. \u2014 Renee<\/address><\/blockquote>\n<p><em>Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p>The ideal in the Church has always been for unity. Jesus at the last supper, in fact, prayed for those who profess belief in him, \u201cthat they may all be one\u201d (John 17:21).<\/p>\n<p>In a nutshell, the Church in the later 20th century softened its language about non-Catholic Christians, even if its goal of unity remains the same.<\/p>\n<p>The Church had done its own soul-searching and settled on a more pastoral approach when speaking with those in the Protestant tradition.<\/p>\n<p>The Church emphasized that all Christians need to move closer to Christ; in doing so, we move closer to one another, like people converging on the same point.<\/p>\n<p>None of this implies that the Church is deficient in its doctrines or sacraments.<\/p>\n<p>Rather, we constantly need to strive for holiness and to reform the deficiencies found in our human institutions and ourselves.<\/p>\n<p>In the words of the Second Vatican Council dogmatic constitution Lumen Gentium, \u201cThe Church, embracing in its bosom sinners, at the same time holy and always in need of being purified, always follows the way of penance and renewal\u201d (No. 8).<\/p>\n<p>Being aware of that and recognizing that we can also learn things from non-Catholics, the vocabulary is more on Christian unity, which is more palatable in an age of ecumenism.<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, though, Christian unity means everyone in the one Church founded by Our Lord.<\/p>\n<p>For further reading, see St. John Paul II\u2019s encyclical <a href=\"https:\/\/www.vatican.va\/content\/john-paul-ii\/en\/encyclicals\/documents\/hf_jp-ii_enc_25051995_ut-unum-sint.html\">Ut Unum Sint<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>I hope that some of this helps.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Q: I recall the Synod on Synodality and Pope Francis\u2019 mentioning &#8220;Christian unity.&#8221; What do they mean by this? From my understanding, it seems that this is not about the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":362,"featured_media":157773,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[3718],"tags":[3861,5395,3376],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-186496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ask-a-priest","tag-bible","tag-mcilmail","tag-priests"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"","pp_force_visibility":null,"pp_subpost_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_force_visibility":null,"pp_inherited_subpost_visibility":null,"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.8 (Yoast SEO v28.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Ask a Priest: &quot;Why the Emphasis on \u2018Christian Unity&#039;?&quot; - Regnum Christi<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-why-the-emphasis-on-christian-unity\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ask a Priest: &quot;Why the Emphasis on \u2018Christian Unity&#039;?&quot;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Q: I recall the Synod on Synodality and Pope Francis\u2019 mentioning &#8220;Christian unity.&#8221; What do they mean by this? 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Edward McIlmail, LC","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/485147bd811c2a8642adf1f1806f85f0adef2b00ef8ccabc9b46f8420af19e16?s=96&d=blank&r=g","caption":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC"},"description":"Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC, ordained to the priesthood in 2001, taught theology and Scripture at the then Mater Ecclesiae College in Rhode Island and is now a part-time chaplain at Overbrook Academy in Greenville, R.I. He holds degrees from Holy Apostles College and Seminary in Connecticut, the Regina Apostolorum Athenaeum in Rome, and Northwestern University in Illinois. He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith &amp; Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/emcilmail\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=186496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/186496\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157773"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=186496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=186496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=186496"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=186496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}