Amid the multiple tragedies of covid there are opportunities too. Pope Francis challenges us to build a ‘culture of encounter’ which can lead to genuine fraternity. Dr Austen Ivereigh gave a livestream presentation on this theme on 15th May 2021, addressing the question ‘Can Pope Francis’ vision of fraternity counter the politicisation of faith?’ The writings of Romano Guardini about ‘reconciled diversity’ were extremely influential for the future pope. Jesus is the supreme reconciler as he comes to share our humanity. We communicate the nature of God by accompanying, through dialogue and in listening to others.
The 2007 Aparecida conference of the Latin American bishops enshrined such ideas in church teaching, and they are found in Francis’ 2013 programme for the pontificate, Evangelii Gaudium. Reconciliation of opposites is a fundamental task for Pope Francis.
The Abu Dhabi declaration of February 2019 said no to extremism and proposed human fraternity ‘in the name of God’. Populism and tribal nationalism are the antithesis of fraternity. The visit to Iraq in March 2021 was another instance of religious leaders coming together to promote fraternity. Fratelli Tutti (October 2020) lays before the world this vision of ‘fraternity and social friendship’. We must create an ‘open world’ in order to survive. Are we able to transcend the self and our need to impose our views? Are we able to move from being ‘associates’ to being ‘neighbours’? For this we need synodality, which enables true encounters to occur, and in place of competition creates something new and unexpected with the assistance of the holy Spirit.