Reconciliation is key to making all lives better

MANY reading this will have seen the film Conclave or read the book. At the time of writing and submitting this “Thought for the Week” the real thing has just concluded.

White smoke has emerged from the chimney on the Sistine Chapel roof and the cardinals of the Catholic Church have elected a new Pope, Leo XIV, as the Bishop of Rome and successor of St Peter. Pope Leo has greeted the crowd gathered in St Peter’s square and sent a message to the world.

Should this ancient ritual attract that attention of anyone other than those who consider themselves a member of the Catholic Church? Yet the media presence and coverage would suggest there is significant interest beyond that of church members. Why did so many heads of state make the effort to attend the late Pope Francis’s funeral if the church is irrelevant to the modern world?

Pope Francis died during a Year of Jubilee celebrated by the church. These occur every 25 years and is a special year of forgiveness and reconciliation, when we are invited to come back into right relationship with God and with one another.

The theme given by Pope Francis to this year’s jubilee is “Pilgrims of Hope”. We all hope for things. We hope for good weather when on holiday, we hope we will pass the exam or get through the interview, we hope for better times if things are difficult.

As Christians, we understand our life on this earth as a pilgrimage; a pilgrimage of joys and sorrows, of dreams fulfilled and disappointments, of love shared and trusts betrayed. A pilgrimage leading us to our true home with God in heaven, where all our hopes, all our deepest longings will be satisfied.

Whether one has a religious belief or not, if we seek reconciliation by offering and accepting forgiveness, we can change the world for the better and make our own lives, as well as those around us, more positive and more hopeful.

My hope is that Pope Leo will not only be a wise and good leader to the Catholic Church, but a constant reminder to all world leaders that their primary role is to seek the common good of the people that they govern, rather than to fulfil personal ambitions of power and wealth, so that all nations may be relieved from the horrors of war, famine and poverty.

Seeing President Trump and President Zelenskyy at Pope Francis’s funeral sitting alone, face-to-face in the vastness of St Peter’s Basilica gives hope that what seems impossible, may be possible for the good of all people throughout the world.

Let me conclude with the first words of Pope Leo — “Peace be with you all!”