Christians walking together in love

At the General Audience on Wednesday morning, 16 October, Pope Francis continued his series of catecheses on the “Holy Spirit and the Bride”, highlighting that the Spirit is life-giving. Indeed, the Holy Spirit gives believers a new life and “dwells in us”, he explained. The following is a translation of the Holy Father’s words, which he delivered in Italian in Saint Peter’s Square.

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Good morning!

With today’s catechesis, we will move on from what the Holy Spirit revealed to us in the Holy Scripture, to how he is present and active in the life of the Church, in our Christian life.

In the first three centuries, the Church did not feel the need to give an explicit formulation of her faith in the Holy Spirit. For example, the Church’s most ancient Creed, the so-called Symbol of the Apostles, after proclaiming: I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born, died, descended into hell, rose again from the dead and ascended into heaven, adds: “I believe in the Holy Spirit” and nothing more, without any details.

But it was heresy that drove the Church to define this faith. When this process began — with Saint Athanasius in the fourth century — it was precisely the Church’s experience of the sanctifying and divinizing action of the Holy Spirit that led her to the certainty of the full divinity of the Holy Spirit. This occurred during the Ecumenical Council of Constantinople in 381, which defined the divinity of the Holy Spirit with the well-known words we still repeat today in the Creed: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets”.

To say that the Holy Spirit “is the Lord” is like saying that he shares the “Lordship” of God, that he belongs to the world of the Creator, not to that of creatures. The strongest affirmation is that he is due the same glory and adoration as the Father and the Son. It is the argument of equality in honour, that was dear to Saint Basil the Great, the main architect of that formula: the Holy Spirit is the Lord, he is God.

The Council definition was not a point of arrival, but of departure. And indeed, once the historical reasons that had obstructed a more explicit affirmation of the divinity of the Holy Spirit had been overcome, this was confidently proclaimed in the worship of the Church and in her theology. Saint Gregory of Nazianzus, in the aftermath of the Council, went on to state without hesitation: “Is the Spirit God? Most certainly. Well then, is He Consubstantial? Yes, if He is God” (Oration 31, 5.10).

What does the article of faith we proclaim every Sunday at Mass say to us, believers of today: “I believe in the Holy Spirit”? In the past, it was mainly concerned with the statement that the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father”. The Latin Church soon supplemented this statement by adding, in the Creed of the Mass, that the Holy Spirit proceeds “also from the Son”. Since in Latin the expression “and from the Son” is called ‘Filioque’, this gave rise to the dispute known by this name, which was the reason (or pretext) for many disputes and divisions between the Church of the East and the Church of the West. It is certainly not appropriate to address the issue here, an issue which, in the climate of dialogue established between the two Churches, has lost the acrimony of the past and today allows us to hope for full mutual acceptance, as one of the main “reconciled differences”. I like to say this: “reconciled differences”. Among Christians there are many differences: he belongs to this school, that other one; this person is a Protestant, that person… The important thing is that these differences are reconciled, in the love of walking together.

Having overcome this obstacle, today we can value the most important prerogative for us that is proclaimed in the article of the Creed, namely, that the Holy Spirit is “life-giving”, that is, he gives life. Let us ask ourselves: what [kind of] life does the Holy Spirit give? At the beginning, in creation, the breath of God gives Adam natural life; the statue of mud is made “a living being” (cf. Gen 2:7). Now, in the new creation, the Holy Spirit is the one who gives believers new life, the life of Christ, supernatural life, as children of God. Paul can exclaim: “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set me free from the law of sin and death” (Rom 8:2).

In all of this, where is the great and consoling news for us? It is that the life given to us by the Holy Spirit is eternal life! Faith frees us from the horror of having to admit that everything ends here, that there is no redemption for the suffering and injustice that reign sovereign on earth. Another of the Apostle’s words assures us of this: “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Rom 8:11). The Spirit dwells in us. He is within us.

Let us nurture this faith also for those who, often through no fault of their own, are deprived of it and are unable to give meaning to life. And let us not forget to thank him, who with his death, obtained this inestimable gift for us!

Special Greetings

I extend a warm welcome to the English-speaking pilgrims and visitors, especially those coming from England, Denmark, Norway, South Africa, India, Kuwait, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea, Canada and the United States. I greet in particular the delegation from the nato Defense College, the priests of the Institute for Continuing Theological Education at the North American College and the members of the Gregorian University Foundation. Upon all of you, and upon your families, I invoke the joy and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ. God bless you!

Lastly, my thoughts turn to young people, to the sick, to the elderly and to newlyweds. Tomorrow the liturgy celebrates the memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, an ardent pastor of love for Christ. May his example help everyone rediscover the joy of being Christian.

And let us not forget the countries experiencing war. Let us not forget martyred Ukraine, Palestine, Israel and Myanmar. Brothers and sisters, let us not forget that war is always, always a defeat. Let us not forget this and let us pray for peace and fight for peace.

I offer my blessing to all of you!