Crisis of division

In this Register guest editorial, Vincent Del Real counsels that the great challenge of Christianity is seeing others as God sees them, and the great challenge for Christians is to see others as the father does in the parable of Prodigal Son.

Reflecting on the loneliness epidemic suggests that perhaps beneath it is a crisis of friendship. We have more ways to connect than ever before, yet many of us struggle to build relationships capable of carrying the weight of life.

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And there may be yet another layer to our loneliness that we need to confront: our growing inability to remain in relationship with people who disappoint us, disagree with us or hurt us. The crisis of division can also become a crisis of dehumanization. We live in a moment when it is remarkably easy to separate ourselves from one another. 

Political differences divide families. Different perspectives end friendships. We organize ourselves into silos where most people think, vote and see the world as we do. But people do not lose their dignity because they think differently. They do not lose their dignity because they make mistakes. They do not even lose their dignity when they sin. 

This is a great challenge of Christianity: learning to see another person as God sees them. Think about the parable of the prodigal son. We know the younger son’s story well. He leaves his father, wastes his inheritance and eventually returns home broken. Yet, when the son returns, the father runs toward him. He knows exactly what his son has done. He refuses to make his son’s failure his permanent identity. He embraces him, restores him and celebrates his return. 

We are called to become like that father. In the inability to love past our differences, many have become like the elder son who stayed home. He worked. He followed the rules. He could clearly identify everything his brother had done wrong. When his brother came home, he could not rejoice. 

There is something painfully human about his reaction. When someone admits, “I was wrong,” can we allow that person to become more than their mistake? When someone we have judged begins to change, repent or return to God, can we rejoice? Or have we become so attached to their guilt that we no longer know what to do with their conversion? Our culture often encourages the latter. 

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Social media makes it possible for someone’s worst moment to become their permanent identity. Our political divisions encourage us to categorize people quickly: good or bad, compassionate or hateful, with us or against us. Two thousand years after a crowd cried, “Crucify him,” it’s worth asking if the human heart has completely lost its appetite for crucifixion. 

We may not stand in a public square demanding a cross, but we remain remarkably interested in condemnation, though not so much in redemption.. 

We may engage in relationships using a simple formula, You disagree with me: disposable. You voted differently: disposable. You failed: disposable. Eventually, we can protect ourselves from everyone who might disappoint, challenge or disagree with us, and then wonder why we are so lonely. 

Forgiveness does not mean pretending nothing happened. Mercy does not eliminate accountability. Some relationships require boundaries, and reconciliation is not always possible or prudent. But even when boundaries are necessary, dignity remains. There are wounds too deep to overcome through good intentions. There are people whom, if we are truthful, we simply do not know how to love. 

Christianity does not ask us to manufacture feelings. It invites us to let God give us a heart more like His. One final detail in the parable offers great hope. The father does not only run toward the younger son. He also goes outside to find the elder son. The father’s mercy is big enough for both. 

In this divided and lonely moment, perhaps our greatest task is not simply to determine who is right and who is wrong. 

Perhaps it is to become more like the father: capable of truth without cruelty, disagreement without contempt, justice without abandoning mercy and forgiveness that leaves room for someone to come home. To overcome our crisis of loneliness, we must also confront our crisis of division. If we want to overcome our division, we must begin by refusing to dehumanize.

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Vicente Del Real is the founder of a Catholic nonprofit in Chicago dedicated to empowering young Latino leaders. Maria De Leon-Sanchez collaborated in the writing.

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A version of this article appeared in the November 01, 2026 issue of The Catholic Register with the headline "Crisis of division".