Unity Prevails over Conflict Pope Francis' Ecumenism / Santiago Madrigal Terraraz

The Pope is first of all the pastor of the Church and sign of its unity. He can be a theologian professionally, or he cannot be, as it has happened for the majority of popes. ln both cases, in his teaching as well as in the choices he makes or in the orientations he offers, his teaching and his style are imbued with a theological perspective and ask theologians to confront with them.

The collection "Pope Francis' Theology", calling upon the expertise of eleven theologians from various Countries of the world, aims at showing us what theology is at the base of such incisive words and such simple gestures with which Pope Francis has made us so familiar.

They are eleven easy volumes, written in a captivating way yet able to show in a rigorous way the deep roots of his thought and action.

Unity Prevails over Conflict describes the pledge of the Pontiff in carrying forward the initiatives and decisions sealed by the Second Vatican Council. The analysis of his conciliar ecumenical theological inspiration proposed here turns out to be interesting above all by virtue of the fact that Francis, unlike his immediate predecessors, did not take part in the conciliar sessions. Unity Prevails over Conflict unfolds around four chapters that, starting from the examination of the first gestures and the first steps of his pontificate full of ecumenical potential (1), deal with the search for the roots of this attitude in his biography by examining his position as Pastor of the Church in Argentina as a promoter of the "common good" aimed at seeking peaceful coexistence (2); subsequently they highlight the personal contribution of Francis to ecumenism through the re-examination of his words and actions in the light of the ecumenical panorama in dialogue with the Orthodox Churches and the Churches and ecclesial communities born of the Reformation initiated by Luther (3); they close the volume with the ecumenical program of Pope Francis contained within Evangelii Gaudium, the programmatic document of his pontificate (4).

About the Author

Santiago Madrigal Terrazas studied at the Pontifical University Comillas where he obtained the license in Philosophy and the baccalaureate in Theology. He earned a license in Theology from the Philosophisch-Theologische Hichschule Sankt Georgen in Frankfurt, Germany.  He then received a Doctorate in Theology from the Pontifical University Comillas, where he has held courses of Ecclesiology and Ecumenical Theology since 1995.