By Justin McLellan | Catholic News Service

Different ways of living out the Catholic faith, including different liturgical rites, should not be seen as threats to the unity of the Catholic Church but embraced as expressions of the body of Christ, Pope Francis said.

“You don’t have to be afraid of the diversity of charisms in the church,” the pope said in a video released Jan. 2, sharing his prayer intention for the month of January: “For the gift of diversity in the church.”