By Fr. Benedict Kiely.

People of a certain age may remember the words of Pope St. John Paul II reminding the Western Church, in particular, that the Church is a body with two lungs, the West and the East. And to be fully itself and spiritually healthy, it needs to breathe with both those lungs. While for years he was speaking of the Eastern Churches behind the Iron Curtain, he often also referred to the truly ancient Churches of the East - in the lands where the Church was born.

Is it coincidence or providence that in the very first week of the pontificate of Pope Leo XIV, one of his first addresses was directed to the Eastern Churches? Coincidence, because it was the week already long-scheduled for the Jubilee Year to celebrate those Churches. Yet providence can be seen in his words - not bland generalizations or weak words of affirmation, but a profound appreciation of the importance of the Eastern Churches. He spoke of the necessity of their survival for the life of the whole Church, a direction for their life in the diaspora, and the witness of those, especially in the Middle East, who have suffered for the Faith.

In this 1700th anniversary year of the Council of Nicaea, at which the majority of the bishops attending were from the East, Pope Leo reminded the whole Church of the "glorious history and bitter suffering" of Eastern Christians. And he declared, as Supreme Pontiff, that they were "precious in God's eyes."

Having visited the Christians of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt many times in the last ten years, I can state with certainty that this is what many there have wished to hear for years, and it is deeply appreciated. Time after time on my visits - with ISIS just a few miles away, churches destroyed, burned, and desecrated, and thousands of Christians driven from their homes - priests and bishops have drawn me aside and told me, quietly, that, deep down, they felt the Church of the West was unconcerned at their suffering.

Some of the specific points Leo XIV accentuated in one of his first addresses are likely to change this sense of neglect.

Quoting two of his predecessors, Leo XIII and St. John Paul II, the pope's most pointed words were to remind the Church of the West that it "needs the East," because, among many reasons, the "work of human redemption began in the East" (Leo XIII), and the East was the "original setting where the Church was born"(JP II).

This is no light matter. Leo XIV told the gathered Eastern Christians that the reason the "Church needs you" is because of the gifts the Churches of the East have to offer, in liturgy, mystery and witness - teaching an impoverished Western Church that, in both leadership and laity, is often woefully ignorant of its Eastern roots. A tree cut off from its roots will not be healthy.

Closely linked with that truth is the witness of the suffering Church, and the lack of attention and care it often receives from the Church of the West. Pope Leo highlighted the Christians of the Middle East who "persevere and remain. . .resisting the temptation" to abandon their ancient homelands. He was speaking of the Christians of Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt, Syria, and other places.

These fellow Christians are persevering and remaining in their historic homelands after centuries of persecution, including many recent travails, with the temptation to leave exacerbated by economic hardships and their experience of dhimmitude, or second-class status. All these are issues that both the Church and governments in the West can and must address.

Calling for their rights to be fully guaranteed is both a consequence of genuine peace, a word constantly on the lips of Pope Leo, and justice, without which true peace cannot exist. Those who have lived in the Middle East since long before the rise of Islam can no longer be treated as though they were interlopers.

Leo had a word of warning, and the first directive of his pontificate during this address, that the "priceless heritage of the Eastern Ch...