A Polyhedric Church: Unity in Diversity According to Pope Francis

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oday's gospel reading (Jn 13:16–20) is the only one about the Last Supper itself found in the whole of Eastertide. According to the gospel, the first act of Jesus at the last supper is to wash the disciples’ feet as a demonstration of his ministry.

We remember how Peter complains at the indignity of the act of washing the feet of another.

Let us ponder the words of Jesus: “No slave is greater than his master… If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it” (Jn 13:16).

Jesus the teacher has just washed the feet of His disciples. The Master becomes the servant. And then He tells we are blessed when we do the same.

But how do we live this exhortation given today's challenges? Perhaps the image of the polyhedron, loved by Pope Francis, can help us.

"I like the figure of the polyhedron," he says, "for it is very expressive; as you know, it is close to my heart."

A polyhedron is a many-sided figure. Each side is different, yet all belong to one whole. As he says in Fratelli Tutti, the whole is greater than the part. Each side enriches the other. No one is useless. No one is expendable.

This vision echoes the prophet Isaiah: the wolf and the lamb feeding together, a world where differences no longer destroy but live in harmony.

In the Gospel, Jesus shows us how this becomes real—not by theory, but by praxis..

To wash another’s feet is to recognize that the other—different from me—is not a threat, but a gift. It is to bend low enough to see that each person is one facet or dimension of the polyhedron, necessary to the whole.

Pope Leo XIV started using the same image of the polyhedron last 19 February 2026. He reminds us that our differences—our styles, our gifts, our charisms—do not weaken unity. They enrich it. But he adds something important. I quote, "Remember, therefore, that you are not masters of charisms, but their custodians and servants. You are called to give your lives so that this gift may continue to be fruitful in the Church and in the world."

That is exactly the Gospel today. Jesus does not say: Be great. He says: Be faithful in service.

We are custodians of what God has given—our lives, our vocations, our charisms—not owners. And like Jesus, we are called to pour them out so that others may live.

Second point: “Art of accompaniment"

I got this from Pope Leo XIV and he uses it in the context of explaining what authority means.

Pope Leo XIV says that authority, in religious life, is not understood as domination, but as spiritual and fraternal service to those who share the same vocation. Its exercise must be manifested in the “‘art of accompaniment” which teaches us to remove our sandals before the sacred ground of the other (Ex 3:5).

To accompany is to recognize that the other person is holy ground—a mystery to reverence.

And this is the way of the Master shown during the Last Supper through the washing of the feet. If He walks with us with reverence, then we too must learn to walk with one another. CS Lewis says, “Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, your neighbor is the holiest object presented to your senses. If he is your Christian neighbor, he is holy in almost the same way, for in him also Christ vere latitat—the glorifier and the glorified, Glory Himself, is truly hidden.” Each of us is a facet of a cut gem.

So the question for us today is simple: Can I see others—not as obstacles—but as part of the whole God is building? Can I serve them, even in their difference? Can I live my own calling, not for myself, but so that it may bear fruit for others? Because in the end, the polyhedron is not just an image of society—it is an image of the Church, and even of our own lives.

And it becomes real only when we kneel, like Jesus, and wash one another’s feet. When we start to recognize the other like Jesus on this disinterested level then we will understand His words: “Blessed are you if you do this.” We see through the lens of a pure heart and this blesses you.

Let me end with this prayer by St Anselm of Canterbury. We beg for the grace of open and mutual listening as friends in the Lord.

O Lord, my God,

teach my heart where & how to seek You.

Teach my heart where & how to find You,

for I cannot seek You unless You teach me,

or find You unless You show Yourself to me.

Let me (then) seek You in my desire.

Let me desire You in my seeking.

Let me find You by my loving You now.

Let me love You when I find You. AMEN!

Fr JM Manzano SJ