Sister Nathalie Becquart, XMCJ is a French Catholic religious sister and Undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops, Rome. In this lecture she will reflect on the Synod of the Catholic Church, ‘For a synodal Church: communion, participation and mission’, its themes, its potential, and its call to the whole Church.

A major leap forward in Christian unity began with an embrace, as Pope Francis recalled.

St. Paul VI and Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras I of Constantinople met, and embraced, in Jerusalem in January 1964 and the following year they lifted the mutual excommunications their churches had issued in 1054.

Pope Francis marked the anniversary during his Angelus address Jan. 6, 2024 telling a crowd in St. Peter’s Square that the two leaders had broken down “a wall of incommunicability that had kept Catholics and Orthodox apart for centuries. Let us learn from the embrace of those two great men of the church on the path to Christian unity: praying together, walking together, working together.”

The praying, walking and working will be highlighted Jan. 18–25 as Christians around the world celebrate the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.