Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, first American pope, 69 years old, Augustinian, Bishop of Chiclayo (Peru), smiling, affable. From the first moment, we pray to God to preserve him for many years and to enlighten him with his grace, so that he may face all the challenges that will be presented to him throughout his Pontificate.

These challenges are many, no doubt, but I want to focus on one of them, because of its importance for all Catholics and for the whole world: unity. But I am not referring to unity with our separated brethren, which is also true, but to unity within the Catholic Church.

The Pope, as successor of Peter," affirms the Catechism, n. 882, "is the perpetual and visible principle and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the multitude of the faithful. He is the rock on which the Church is built. The successor of Peter has, therefore, the great responsibility of maintaining the unity of the Body of Christ: spiritual, doctrinal and pastoral unity, among other aspects.

At this moment, I imagine St. Paul saying the following words to all of us: "I urge you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all have the same language and that there be no divisions among you, that you live united in the same mind and in the same heart (1 Cor. 1:10).

We are all aware that unity among Catholics is not at its best. And it has not been for many years. It is easy to see, and we have seen it in the press during the last few months, when talking about the papables, a division into two great currents: the progressives and the conservatives. I see with regret that, as if it were something normal, this outline, which may make some sense in the political world, is applied to the Church of Christ, which does not admit rights or lefts, because it is one and the same for all.

Unfortunately, these divisions do not refer only to circumstantial issues, but also to essential questions of faith and morals. And this is a major problem. Also because, for some time now, a great deal of confusion has been created among the faithful, who no longer know where they stand on important questions of faith and morals.

As I said, the lack of unity among the faithful (including the bishops, who must also be faithful) goes back a long way. In the field of moral theology, there was a great division in the Church, especially from the 1960s onwards, caused by theologians who defended autonomous morality, according to which the Church would not have magisterial authority in the field of interpersonal relationships, an authority that each individual would have, instead, to decide on good and evil, according to his or her own circumstances.

This current of morality demanded on the part of John Paul II the publication of an encyclical that showed where its errors lay. I am referring to Veritatis splendor (1993), the first encyclical on fundamental moral questions.

In spite of everything, that moral or immoral current, which also distorted the faith (because faith and morals go hand in hand), has continued to move forward, at times in a larval fashion, and has shown its vigor again during the pontificate of Francis, as seen, for example, in the German synod, or in the opinions of some bishops and cardinals.

The unity we need cannot be achieved by trying to please everyone or by trying to reach agreements that modify faith and morals. This is not the purpose of the Church, much less to change doctrine in order to bring it into agreement with the new times, because it is precisely the new times that must allow themselves to be enlightened by the truth of Christ, bringing the Christian faith to the whole world.

Not left and right, not progressive and conservative, but children of God, brothers and sisters, united to Christ and enlivened by the Holy Spirit, who are faithful to the Magisterium of the Church and live charity among themselves. If all Catholics loved each other as brothers, the face of the earth would change.

For all these reasons, I believe that the unity of Catholics in doctrinal matters of faith and morals will be the first great challenge of the new Pontiff.