the great enemy of unity.
This quote is from the uniquely well-timed 2024 film “CONCLAVE” about the selection of a new Pope. It’s haunted me ever since. Here is the entire quote and the clip from the film.
“My brothers and sisters...let me tell you that the one sin I have come to fear more than any other is certainty. Certainty is the great enemy of unity..our faith is a living thing precisely because it walks hand in hand with doubt. If there was only certainty, and if there was no doubt, there would be no mystery, and therefore no need for faith.”
―Robert Harris, Conclave
CERTAIN: known for sure; established beyond doubt
ENEMY: something harmful or deadly
UNITY: a condition of harmony
A tidy package of CERTAINTY is rarely going to arrive on my doorstep.
How can I learn to manage my emotional distress when certainty isn’t possible?
• Don't believe everything I think, it's just a thought (NOT a fact). • Acknowledge my feelings without judgment (or try to anyway). • Accept that I may never have certainty on this topic. • Remind myself of the rest of the quote: "...our faith is a living thing precisely because it walks hand in hand with doubt. If there was only certainty, and if there was no doubt, there would be no mystery, and therefore no need for faith."
Sunrise on Town Neck Beach—Sandwich, Massachusetts—July 3rd, 2025
