“One thing is certain,” Pope Francis writes. “Unity is not chiefly the result of our activity, but a gift of the Holy Spirit. Yet, unity will not come about as a miracle at the very end. Rather, unity comes about in journeying.”

Francis called for reflection on the encyclical in which he “sought to draw attention to the cry of the earth and of the poor.”

Father Nicolás “was not the kind of leader who says, ‘I am the one who knows everything.’ He really trusted in people, and he listened.”

The church’s mission “is the work of the Holy Spirit and not the consequence of our ideas and projects,” the pope said.

“The Holy See is following the situation closely and expresses concern about any future actions that could further compromise dialogue.”

“As superior general,” Father Arturo Sosa said of Father Nicolás, “he brought to the Society his deep missionary vocation that helped us to see the universality of the mission from the perspective and the passion of presenting the Good News in all corners of the world.”