On Wednesday, June 4, during the general audience, Pope Leo XIV received a Unity Cross as a gift. Cecilia and Javier Carbonere, from the Family Federation of Argentina, accompanied by Fr. Ludovico Tedeschi, had the opportunity to do so. First, Cecilia thanked the Holy Father in Spanish for his “yes” to God’s call to be the successor of Peter. Javier added that the Unity Cross was very meaningful for the Schoenstatt Movement, and they wanted to give it to him.
Together they prayed the part of the prayer that is prayed when the Unity Cross goes on pilgrimage in the Schoenstatt Family in different countries. The Holy Father expressed his gratitude by taking it in his hands and commenting, “What a beautiful Cross”. When Cecilia and Javier made the gesture to leave, the Holy Father smilingly said, “Now we are going to take a picture,” and he positioned himself so that the photographers could take the photo from the front.
As this was the first public meeting of Movement members with Pope Leo, the photo quickly went viral on social media networks. In 2020, Cecilia and Javier took the initiative to undertake the Unity Cross pilgrimage to various countries.
The cross given to the Pope was blessed and sent from the Original Shrine of Schoenstatt, as Javier tells in an interview:
How was it possible to meet the Pope?
Fr. Ludovico Tedeschi is our moderator in the Schoenstatt Family Federation. We are members of Course 29 of the Family Federation of Argentina. We have known Father for several years, and we have a very close bond with him.
In the mid-2020s, a life current was born called “Cross of the New Unity“.
In this context and taking into account that we were going to be in Europe for the Jubilee of the 75th anniversary of the Family Federation, Father Ludovico thought it would be a good idea to invite us to an encounter with the Holy Father and on that occasion to bring him the Unity Cross as a gift.
It was a day of Heaven. A lot of emotion. Something that never in my life, nor my wife’s, would have occurred to us. To personally greet a Pope? To shake his hand? But we had not thought that someday we would be able to hand him this beloved symbol of Schoenstatt, the Unity Cross, which is a gift for the Church and the world.
What is this stream of life about?
With time, two aspects emerged within this current of life. The first was the Pilgrim Unity Cross. In 2022 we commissioned a Unity Cross from a Lady of Schoenstatt and this Cross traveled to the Original Shrine, where it was blessed and sent by Fr. Pablo Pol to go on pilgrimage in Argentina. In this way, it visited shrines, parishes, schools, hospitals, and families throughout the country, traveling over 20,000 km. Fr. Pablo Perez helped us a lot with this task. Then, Argentina gave a Unity Cross to Ecuador, and Ecuador reciprocated by doing the same with Colombia. Colombia then gave one to Germany, and Germany reciprocated by giving one to the United States. Recently, the latter reciprocated with Canada. And so, each country that received a Cross gave another one in return. And in each place where the Cross arrives, it begins to go on pilgrimage, always crossing the borders of Schoenstatt. All the pilgrim crosses are blessed and sent from the Original Shrine.
The second aspect of the current emerged at the end of 2024, focusing on the Consecration to Christ and Mary through the Unity Cross. In preparation for this, a novena of Consecration to Christ and Mary was developed and prayed in several shrines during the Easter season. Fr. Santiago Ferrero, National Director of the Movement in Argentina, is also helping us in this new stage.
Why did you decide to give the Unity Cross to the Pope?
In the project, we understand that the Unity Cross is a treasure. But not a treasure to keep, but to share. It is the victorious Cross where Christ and Mary give us salvation. It is the Cross in which God confirms to us that He always obtains a greater good from an evil.
As Fr. Benjamin Pereira says, it is the Cross of attachments. On four very concrete levels:
– The bond of Jesus with God the Father. That son who is out of love is willing to fulfill the will of his Father.
– The bond of Christ with his mother, who, from the womb to the Cross, faithfully accompanies him in the plan of redemption.
– It is the link between the natural and the supernatural. Between heaven and earth.
– Finally, it represents the bond between men who, united in Christ and Mary, recognize themselves as children of the same Father.
Finally, because of this and much more, we feel that the Unity Cross is a gift from Schoenstatt for the Church and the world. We are on fire with the mission to take Christ and Mary on the Unity Cross to every corner, to the marginalized, to those who suffer, to those who are sick, to those who are alone, to children, youth, and the elderly, to families.
When the possibility of visiting the Holy Father arose, we immediately contacted Tere Quiroz from Ecuador, a great collaborator of the project, to order a Unity Cross. Then, Priscila Loor traveled to the Original Shrine, and there, Fr. Felipe Rios blessed and sent the Cross that had been given to the Holy Father.
How was the meeting with the Pope, and were you able to talk?
The meeting with the Holy Father was a heavenly moment. It was very emotional. He greeted each one of us personally. He shook our hands and, with an expression of affection, looked each one of us with a fine look in our eyes. I told him that we had brought him a gift on behalf of the Schoenstatt Family. It was the Unity Cross, and it was a very important symbol for us. We prayed a verse from the prayer of the current, which says: “I beg you, teach me to be one with all, to seek peace, and to be an instrument of hope.”
Fr. Ludovico told her that we were a Schoenstatt couple from Argentina.
Then Ceci told him that she thanked him for his yes, that she had entrusted him to the Blessed Mother, and that they had prayed for him. The Holy Father thanked her.
Then Ceci gave him the Unity Cross as a gift.
Finally, Leo XIV asked the official Vatican photographer to take a photo of the four of us, showing us all very happy and the Holy Father receiving the gift of Schoenstatt for the church. We prayed and asked everyone to join us in prayer, especially for the fruits of this meeting.
Translation: Sr. M. Lourdes Macías