St. Paul Catholic Church, Richmond, VA

WASHINGTON – Marking the occasion of the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America, Pope Leo XIV has addressed a letter to the American people. The U.S. bishops are grateful to the Holy Father for his inspiring message, and for his prayers as we commemorate this milestone anniversary of our nation. 

All are invited to read Pope Leo XIV’s message which may be found here.

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VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican declared July 2 that the six bishops involved in the Society of St. Pius X's unauthorized episcopal consecrations had incurred automatic excommunication and said its clergy "are in schism and therefore must be considered schismatics."

The decree from Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, marks the strongest Vatican action against the traditionalist society since its founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, consecrated four bishops without papal approval in 1988, leading to similar Vatican censure.

While the society claims it was compelled to ordain new bishops July 1 in Ecône, Switzerland in order to guarantee to celebrate what they consider the true Mass, Vatican officials and scholars say the dispute that culminated in the excommunications has never primarily been about the traditional Latin Mass.

Founded in 1970 by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in opposition to reforms following the Second Vatican Council, the Society of St. Pius X grew into an international traditionalist movement with hundreds of priests, seminarians and schools around the world. 

While best known for celebrating the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass, the society's disagreements with Rome extend far beyond liturgy and center on its rejection of key teachings of Vatican II, objecting to its declaration on religious liberty.

Speaking to reporters after the consecrations, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said the Vatican's concern extended far beyond the unauthorized ordinations themselves.

"The fundamental issue, however, is the council – that is, whether or not the Second Vatican Council is accepted," he said. "The history of the Church continues and, as I said before, the Second Vatican Council is a milestone in the Church's history. It must be accepted and implemented in the proper way."

For decades, public discussion surrounding the Society of St. Pius X has focused on its attachment to the pre-Vatican II liturgy. But Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist of religion who has studied the movement for decades and interviewed Archbishop Lefebvre personally, said that narrative misses the central issue.

"I keep reading in the media that the problem is the Latin Mass," he told Catholic News Service July 2. "Liturgy is an important point, but it's not the key point."

The dispute is not that the SSPX prefers the traditional Latin Mass, because many other groups in full communion with Rome celebrate it as well, Introvigne said, but that the fraternity rejects the post-conciliar liturgical reform in ways the Vatican says call into question its acceptance of the Church's authority.

Introvigne recalled the late archbishop telling him that even if the pope restored the pre-conciliar liturgy overnight, his principal objections would remain because his real concerns centered on Vatican II's teaching on religious liberty and the Church's relationship with other religions. 

Those concerns remain at the center of the society's position today.

"I believe a key point here is they want the pope to agree with them that the other religions are 'the work of the devil,'" Introvigne said, and that the public activity of non-Catholic believers "should be prohibited by the state."

There are two notable texts from Vatican II that focus on religious liberty, "Dignitatis Humanae," which recognizes a civil right to religious freedom, and "Nostra Aetate," which encourages dialogue with non-Christian religions while recognizing elements of truth and holiness within them. 

The council's declaration on religious freedom, "Dignitatis humanae," is not about denying the truth of Jesus and the faith, Introvigne said, but is about the importance of every human's freedom to arrive at the truth without state interference or coercion.

The SSPX argues that because the council described its work as "pastoral" and issued no new dogmatic definitions, Catholics are not required to accept every conciliar teaching, particularly where the fraternity believes the council departed from previous doctrine. 

The SSPX argues some teachings are difficult to reconcile with earlier magisterial statements.

The Vatican has consistently rejected that interpretation, saying the Church can evolve in its understanding of the truth and, therefore, its teachings, and the Vatican II texts belong to the Church's authentic and authoritative magisterium.

Although the July 2 decree represents the strongest Vatican action against the fraternity in decades, it also follows a familiar pattern. After Archbishop Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without papal approval in 1988, St. John Paul II declared the act schismatic but simultaneously established a commission to facilitate reconciliation with traditionalist Catholics. Pope Benedict XVI later lifted the bishops' excommunications to reopen dialogue, and Pope Francis granted SSPX priests faculties to validly hear confessions and provided for the recognition of marriages.

Vatican officials have repeatedly coupled canonical sanctions with invitations to return to full communion, a pattern that many observers expect will continue under Pope Leo XIV despite the recent rupture.

Cardinal Fernández had proposed dialogue earlier this year focused on Vatican II and the minimum requirements for full communion, according to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Vatican conditioned those talks on the fraternity abandoning plans to consecrate new bishops.

Instead, the society proceeded.

Thousands gathered July 1 at the society's seminary in Ecône as Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta consecrated four new bishops despite repeated Vatican warnings that doing so would constitute a schismatic act.

A day earlier, Pope Leo made an extraordinary personal appeal.

"Please turn back!" he wrote in a brief message. He warned that proceeding would "tear the seamless garment of Christ" and described the planned consecrations as "a sin of extreme gravity."

The society nevertheless insists it has no intention of leaving the Catholic Church.

During the consecration Mass, Father Davide Pagliarani, superior general of the SSPX, rejected accusations that the fraternity was separating itself from Rome.

"We cannot choose between the faith and the Church," he said. "We belong to the Church because we have the same faith."

He argued that the fraternity was acting not against the Church but for her good, insisting that its bishops were preserving Catholic tradition during what the society calls an unprecedented crisis in the Church.

For Introvigne, however, the dispute ultimately concerns authority more than liturgy.

"Some of the questions the society asked were valid questions," he said. "The problem is when the society started not only asking questions, but substituting itself for the pope and also giving the answers." 

That, he said, is where theological disagreement became schism.

"The pope has tried everything possible to reconcile them," Introvigne said. "But everything possible is not equal to everything." 

The Church can continue dialogue, he said, "but it cannot allow people to replace the authority of the pope with their own." 

The Vatican's July 2 decree declared that the six bishops had been automatically excommunicated upon the act of consecration without papal authority. It also stated that clergy belonging to the SSPX "are in schism and therefore must be considered schismatics." 

Introvigne said that this level of excommunication was what he expected because "it's clear that generosity and kindness didn't work out," referring to the previously lifted excommunications by Pope Benedict XVI and restoration of some priestly faculties by Pope Francis.

Lay faithful who "formally adhere" to the fraternity likewise incur excommunication, although canonists say the decree leaves open questions about what constitutes formal adherence. Seeing as SSPX sees itself as a part of the Catholic Church, they do not retain membership data, Introvigne said. The society's website claims to have 600,000 members, but the theologian estimates the true number of lay people who attend Mass with the society regularly to be between 30,000 and 40,000. 

Introvigne also believes the movement has already reached its high-water mark.

"Another personal opinion, which I'm sure the society would dispute, is that this movement is past its prime and this schismatic attitude is not a sign of strength but it's a sign of weakness," he said.

He argued that the fraternity was most successful when it could portray itself as defending traditional Catholics from Pope Francis' restrictions on the celebration of the Latin Mass. With Pope Leo widely viewed as a unifying figure, Introvigne said, much of that momentum has faded.

"In other words, many Catholics will gladly embrace a conservative position, but not a fundamentalist position," he said. 

In the months leading up to the consecrations, Pope Leo devoted a series of Wednesday general audience talks to explaining the principal documents of Vatican II, signalling the same fidelity as his predecessors demonstrated to the council's teachings. 

Introvigne believes the latest rupture represents less a new beginning than a return to a familiar place.

"It puts the clock back to 1988," he said, adding that, despite the excommunications, he expects dialogue to continue eventually. 

Cardinal Parolin told journalists July 1 that he hopes "dialogue can resume and that we may truly find a solution here as well." Introvigne also said the cycle is unlikely to end with the latest excommunications. 

"The dialogue, at least under the table, will continue," he said. "But to have a meaningful dialogue, some things should change," including, he suggested, changes in the fraternity's leadership.

Despite the Vatican's sweeping action against the SSPX, Introvigne does not believe the fraternity represents the greatest challenge facing Pope Leo's pontificate.

Instead, he pointed to ongoing tensions in Germany, where bishops and lay organizations continue to advocate for women's ordination and sacramental recognition of same-sex unions.

"I believe the challenge is on the other side," he said. "I believe Pope Leo is more concerned with the movements in the German church than with the Lefebvrists."

Those demands, he said, are also ones "Pope Leo cannot accept," raising the possibility of another rupture within the Church -- this time from the opposite end of the theological spectrum.

"It will not be enormous," he said. "But it will be as significant as schism, and perhaps more significant than this one on the right."

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- The Vatican declared July 2 that the six bishops involved in the Society of St. Pius X's unauthorized episcopal consecrations had incurred automatic excommunication and said its clergy "are in schism and therefore must be considered schismatics."

The decree from Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, marks the strongest Vatican action against the traditionalist society since its founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, consecrated four bishops without papal approval in 1988, leading to similar Vatican censure.

While the society claims it was compelled to ordain new bishops July 1 in Ecône, Switzerland in order to guarantee to celebrate what they consider the true Mass, Vatican officials and scholars say the dispute that culminated in the excommunications has never primarily been about the traditional Latin Mass.

Founded in 1970 by French Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre in opposition to reforms following the Second Vatican Council, the Society of St. Pius X grew into an international traditionalist movement with hundreds of priests, seminarians and schools around the world. 

While best known for celebrating the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass, the society's disagreements with Rome extend far beyond liturgy and center on its rejection of key teachings of Vatican II, objecting to its declaration on religious liberty.

Speaking to reporters after the consecrations, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, said the Vatican's concern extended far beyond the unauthorized ordinations themselves.

"The fundamental issue, however, is the council – that is, whether or not the Second Vatican Council is accepted," he said. "The history of the Church continues and, as I said before, the Second Vatican Council is a milestone in the Church's history. It must be accepted and implemented in the proper way."

For decades, public discussion surrounding the Society of St. Pius X has focused on its attachment to the pre-Vatican II liturgy. But Massimo Introvigne, an Italian sociologist of religion who has studied the movement for decades and interviewed Archbishop Lefebvre personally, said that narrative misses the central issue.

"I keep reading in the media that the problem is the Latin Mass," he told Catholic News Service July 2. "Liturgy is an important point, but it's not the key point."

The dispute is not that the SSPX prefers the traditional Latin Mass, because many other groups in full communion with Rome celebrate it as well, Introvigne said, but that the fraternity rejects the post-conciliar liturgical reform in ways the Vatican says call into question its acceptance of the Church's authority.

Introvigne recalled the late archbishop telling him that even if the pope restored the pre-conciliar liturgy overnight, his principal objections would remain because his real concerns centered on Vatican II's teaching on religious liberty and the Church's relationship with other religions. 

Those concerns remain at the center of the society's position today.

"I believe a key point here is they want the pope to agree with them that the other religions are 'the work of the devil,'" Introvigne said, and that the public activity of non-Catholic believers "should be prohibited by the state."

There are two notable texts from Vatican II that focus on religious liberty, "Dignitatis Humanae," which recognizes a civil right to religious freedom, and "Nostra Aetate," which encourages dialogue with non-Christian religions while recognizing elements of truth and holiness within them. 

The council's declaration on religious freedom, "Dignitatis humanae," is not about denying the truth of Jesus and the faith, Introvigne said, but is about the importance of every human's freedom to arrive at the truth without state interference or coercion.

The SSPX argues that because the council described its work as "pastoral" and issued no new dogmatic definitions, Catholics are not required to accept every conciliar teaching, particularly where the fraternity believes the council departed from previous doctrine. 

The SSPX argues some teachings are difficult to reconcile with earlier magisterial statements.

The Vatican has consistently rejected that interpretation, saying the Church can evolve in its understanding of the truth and, therefore, its teachings, and the Vatican II texts belong to the Church's authentic and authoritative magisterium.

Although the July 2 decree represents the strongest Vatican action against the fraternity in decades, it also follows a familiar pattern. After Archbishop Lefebvre consecrated four bishops without papal approval in 1988, St. John Paul II declared the act schismatic but simultaneously established a commission to facilitate reconciliation with traditionalist Catholics. Pope Benedict XVI later lifted the bishops' excommunications to reopen dialogue, and Pope Francis granted SSPX priests faculties to validly hear confessions and provided for the recognition of marriages.

Vatican officials have repeatedly coupled canonical sanctions with invitations to return to full communion, a pattern that many observers expect will continue under Pope Leo XIV despite the recent rupture.

Cardinal Fernández had proposed dialogue earlier this year focused on Vatican II and the minimum requirements for full communion, according to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith. The Vatican conditioned those talks on the fraternity abandoning plans to consecrate new bishops.

Instead, the society proceeded.

Thousands gathered July 1 at the society's seminary in Ecône as Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta consecrated four new bishops despite repeated Vatican warnings that doing so would constitute a schismatic act.

A day earlier, Pope Leo made an extraordinary personal appeal.

"Please turn back!" he wrote in a brief message. He warned that proceeding would "tear the seamless garment of Christ" and described the planned consecrations as "a sin of extreme gravity."

The society nevertheless insists it has no intention of leaving the Catholic Church.

During the consecration Mass, Father Davide Pagliarani, superior general of the SSPX, rejected accusations that the fraternity was separating itself from Rome.

"We cannot choose between the faith and the Church," he said. "We belong to the Church because we have the same faith."

He argued that the fraternity was acting not against the Church but for her good, insisting that its bishops were preserving Catholic tradition during what the society calls an unprecedented crisis in the Church.

For Introvigne, however, the dispute ultimately concerns authority more than liturgy.

"Some of the questions the society asked were valid questions," he said. "The problem is when the society started not only asking questions, but substituting itself for the pope and also giving the answers." 

That, he said, is where theological disagreement became schism.

"The pope has tried everything possible to reconcile them," Introvigne said. "But everything possible is not equal to everything." 

The Church can continue dialogue, he said, "but it cannot allow people to replace the authority of the pope with their own." 

The Vatican's July 2 decree declared that the six bishops had been automatically excommunicated upon the act of consecration without papal authority. It also stated that clergy belonging to the SSPX "are in schism and therefore must be considered schismatics." 

Introvigne said that this level of excommunication was what he expected because "it's clear that generosity and kindness didn't work out," referring to the previously lifted excommunications by Pope Benedict XVI and restoration of some priestly faculties by Pope Francis.

Lay faithful who "formally adhere" to the fraternity likewise incur excommunication, although canonists say the decree leaves open questions about what constitutes formal adherence. Seeing as SSPX sees itself as a part of the Catholic Church, they do not retain membership data, Introvigne said. The society's website claims to have 600,000 members, but the theologian estimates the true number of lay people who attend Mass with the society regularly to be between 30,000 and 40,000. 

Introvigne also believes the movement has already reached its high-water mark.

"Another personal opinion, which I'm sure the society would dispute, is that this movement is past its prime and this schismatic attitude is not a sign of strength but it's a sign of weakness," he said.

He argued that the fraternity was most successful when it could portray itself as defending traditional Catholics from Pope Francis' restrictions on the celebration of the Latin Mass. With Pope Leo widely viewed as a unifying figure, Introvigne said, much of that momentum has faded.

"In other words, many Catholics will gladly embrace a conservative position, but not a fundamentalist position," he said. 

In the months leading up to the consecrations, Pope Leo devoted a series of Wednesday general audience talks to explaining the principal documents of Vatican II, signalling the same fidelity as his predecessors demonstrated to the council's teachings. 

Introvigne believes the latest rupture represents less a new beginning than a return to a familiar place.

"It puts the clock back to 1988," he said, adding that, despite the excommunications, he expects dialogue to continue eventually. 

Cardinal Parolin told journalists July 1 that he hopes "dialogue can resume and that we may truly find a solution here as well." Introvigne also said the cycle is unlikely to end with the latest excommunications. 

"The dialogue, at least under the table, will continue," he said. "But to have a meaningful dialogue, some things should change," including, he suggested, changes in the fraternity's leadership.

Despite the Vatican's sweeping action against the SSPX, Introvigne does not believe the fraternity represents the greatest challenge facing Pope Leo's pontificate.

Instead, he pointed to ongoing tensions in Germany, where bishops and lay organizations continue to advocate for women's ordination and sacramental recognition of same-sex unions.

"I believe the challenge is on the other side," he said. "I believe Pope Leo is more concerned with the movements in the German church than with the Lefebvrists."

Those demands, he said, are also ones "Pope Leo cannot accept," raising the possibility of another rupture within the Church -- this time from the opposite end of the theological spectrum.

"It will not be enormous," he said. "But it will be as significant as schism, and perhaps more significant than this one on the right."

ROME (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV's call for unity in diversity extends beyond greater communion within the Catholic Church and includes one's wider community, some newly appointed U.S. archbishops said.

Pope Leo has been a role model in a world marked by division, "to remind us we're all brothers and sisters and see one another as human beings," Archbishop Mark S. Rivituso of Mobile, Ala., told Catholic News Service in Rome June 29. 

"We're all part of one family," which inspires Catholics to see how they can help break down barriers, care for each other and foster unity through greater respect, compassion and kindness, he said after receiving the pallium -- a woolen band worn around the shoulders over Mass vestments.

Pope Leo gave newly appointed metropolitan archbishops their pallium in St. Peter's Basilica on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul; the pallium symbolizes each archbishop's bond with the pope and their responsibility to care for their people and to promote unity.

Four of the 35 archbishops receiving the pallium June 29 were from the United States, and they reflected on what they are being called to do as "shepherds." 

Speaking to The Good Newsroom June 29, Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks of New York said, "As I've received the pallium, I hope that my heart is united to the pope's heart and that together we can really be disciples of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and continue to go out and make disciples."

Speaking with CNS, Archbishop Rivituso said, the pallium "reminds us to be good shepherds for those that we are so blessed and honored to serve, to serve our flock."

However, his archdiocese spans "the whole lower half of Alabama," he said, so "I not only have Catholics, but all those in that lower half that I'm called to show the pastoral care of Jesus to."

There are people in his region facing "tremendous poverty," homelessness, mental illness, domestic violence and human trafficking, he said; "So many who are out there who feel forsaken and forgotten."

"There are so many that we have to bring the care of Jesus to. And I really believe by working together, reaching out, developing relationships, fostering partnerships, we're fostering communion," the archbishop said.

Archbishop James F. Checchio of New Orleans told CNS June 29 he feels called to help people strengthen in-person, fruitful "relations and communion," given how many people are "really super involved with their phones and with their internet and kind of living this parallel life in a way." 

His archdiocese is using social media for evangelization with a new "Office for Evangelization and Communications" because so many people are online, he said. At the same time, they are gearing efforts to bring people back into an in-person community, too.

Their current nine-week program on pastoral outreach and evangelization on the Sacred Heart will culminate in a "Welcome Home Sunday" Aug. 14th, he said, "where we'll ask everybody to invite one person to come to church with them who doesn't usually come with them. Whether it's inviting someone back who's fallen away or drifted away or someone that's been hurt or someone that's searching, whatever, but to invite one person."

Archbishop James R. Golka of Denver told CNS June 28 the pallium "represents Jesus the Good Shepherd, and a bishop is called to participate in his shepherding of his flock, which is to look out for the lost and the least and to help bring them back."

He said he feels called "to be close to our Lord and to be fascinated by Jesus and want to talk about him to everybody." 

If people allow themselves to "be fascinated with Christ, you're going to fall in love with him. You're going to want to spend your life for him, and it's really fun to spend your life for the Lord,” he said. “So it sounds simple, but if we're not doing that basic thing, we're going to be lost.”

What U.S. Archbishops Said After Receiving the Pallium From Pope Leo

On the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Leo XIV June 29, 2026, Pope Leo gave 35 newly appointed archbishops the pallium, the woolen band adorned with crosses that the heads of archdioceses wear around their shoulders over their Mass vestments that...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Leo XIV's second consistory gave cardinals from around the world an opportunity to candidly discuss issues ranging from synodality and artificial intelligence to the future of Catholic teaching on war, some participants told Catholic News Service.

The June 26-27 meeting brought together 178 cardinals to discuss Pope Leo's first encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas", implementation of the final document on synodality and the Church's response to modern challenges. Interviews afterward suggested the College of Cardinals had substantive discussions on war, and the pope's repeated calls for honest dialogue within the Church. 

One of the most closely watched topics was Pope Leo's declaration in "Magnifica Humanitas" that the traditional "just war" theory is "now outdated."

"It was meant to be a constraint on war, not an endorsement of going to war," Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington told CNS in an interview in Rome June 29.

Opening the first day of the consistory, Pope Leo condemned war as "never blessed by God."

"Therefore, war is never worthy of humanity, and it is never blessed by God, because, even if we are equipped with high-tech weapons, the Creator has endowed us with intelligence and free will to resolve conflicts as human beings and not as beasts," he said in his June 26 homily to the cardinals. 

Developed through the writings of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, just-war theory has long held that military force can be morally justified only under strict conditions, including self-defense, legitimate authority, proportionality and the exhaustion of peaceful alternatives. The teaching has resurfaced in recent debates surrounding conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Cardinal McElroy said Pope Leo's reflection builds on decades of development in Catholic teaching, with previous popes having narrowed the circumstances under which war could be considered morally legitimate because of the destructive power of modern weapons and the immense human cost of armed conflict.

"So I think Pope Leo is bringing to bear that question now, with all this trajectory of trying to narrow the criteria for going to war," he said.

The cardinal said he believed there was broad agreement among participants that the traditional just-war framework no longer serves a productive role, while acknowledging the Church still must articulate clearly when the use of military force can be morally legitimate.

"Because I think one of the big problems is the Church has come to the recognition that basically no war is just, and it's a wrong use of terms," he said. "But there are times when military force is morally legitimate."

He said governments have increasingly treated just-war theory as a flexible political justification rather than the Church's intended "strict set of moral conditions."

Rather than revisiting the topic at future consistories, Cardinal McElroy said he expects further theological study to help refine the Church's teaching since it has become clear just-war theory has often become "a very elastic set of criteria that can easily be manipulated by governments."

Cardinal Tarcisio Isao Kikuchi of Tokyo told CNS June 29 that several participants even proposed issuing a collective statement supporting Pope Leo's position on war. Because not all cardinals were present, however, the idea was set aside, and bishops' conferences were encouraged instead to express support in their own countries.

Another major focus of the discussions was implementing synodality throughout the Church.

Cardinal McElroy said the discussions centered not on adding another program to parish life but on allowing "the principles and the culture of synodality" to permeate every level of the Church, particularly decision-making.

He said implementation has progressed unevenly around the world, in part because synodality became associated with several controversial issues debated during the Synod on Synodality.

"A number of people who didn't like the movement that was going on in those particular issues became resistant to the wider movement," he said.

This consistory, he said, instead focused on bringing synodality "into the heart of the life of the Church" at the universal, diocesan and parish levels.

Cardinal Antoine Kambanda of Kigali, Rwanda, agreed that the discussions reflected different perspectives. Asked whether there was disagreement over the meaning of synodality, he replied: "Yes, but that is part of synodality, to march through together."

Artificial intelligence also featured prominently in the discussions surrounding "Magnifica Humanitas.' Cardinal McElroy said the cardinals devoted significant attention to the encyclical and the challenges AI presents for the Church, while Vatican summaries of the working sessions showed participants framing the issue primarily through the lens of human dignity, the common good and Catholic social teaching.

Overall, the U.S. cardinal said the consistories give cardinals an opportunity to help the pope discern "where the call of the Church is, and the Spirit is leading us" on issues facing the universal Church.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- With bishops leading the way, every Christian should help build unity in the Church and the world by putting Christ at the center and drawing others near while being attentive to their needs, Pope Leo XIV said.

"Communion within the Church is not built by clinging rigidly to one’s own position, but by seeking, in all hearts, points of encounter in the truth, in whose light alone each person becomes a means of growth for another," he said during his homily at Mass on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul June 29.

"It is important for us today to look to these two saints -- Peter and Paul -- to understand how we, in turn, can be apostles and builders of unity, and generous servants of the truth in charity," he said. 

The feast day celebration in St. Peter's Basilica included the traditional blessing of the pallium, the woolen band adorned with crosses that the heads of archdioceses wear around their shoulders over their Mass vestments and symbolizes an archbishop's unity with the pope and his authority and responsibility to care for the flock the pope entrusted to him.

The pallium, Pope Leo said, expresses "the commitment of every shepherd -- and also of every Christian -- to take upon their shoulders the brothers and sisters entrusted to them, like so many lambs of the Lord's flock, and to sacrifice their energy, time, effort and even their lives for them. They do so in order that the Gospel may reach everyone, and the whole world may find in it harmony and concord." 

According to the Vatican, 35 archbishops from 19 countries who were named over the past 12 months received the palliums. Four of them were from the United States: Archbishop Mark S. Rivituso of Mobile, Alabama; Archbishop Ronald A. Hicks of New York; Archbishop James R. Golka of Denver; and Archbishop James F. Checchio of New Orleans.

The pope blessed the palliums after his homily and after they were brought up from the crypt above the tomb of St. Peter. Each archbishop, wearing red vestments, then approached Pope Leo by the altar and knelt as the pope placed the pallium over their shoulders. Each shared an embrace with the pope and a few words.

In his homily, the pope reflected on Sts. Peter and Paul -- two very different saints who were martyred on different days and yet share the same feast day.

Pope Leo called them "two pillars of the Church," who provide important examples for today's bishops and all Christians.

St. Peter knew how to "acknowledge his mistakes and repent, without becoming discouraged and without failing in his mission to proclaim the Gospel and gather Christ's flock, even unto martyrdom," the pope said.

When a controversial issue threatened to divide the community, he said, St. Peter listened to his brothers and made a decision, guided by the Holy Spirit, that preserved communion and ushered in a new era for the entire People of God. 

St. Peter holding the keys represents his "faithful and patient concern for unity," he said, because a key doesn't break down a door, rather it "opens and closes them by finding the proper levers within and guiding their movements, so that locks may release, bolts withdraw, and doors turn freely on their hinges, thereby joining rooms together and transforming many isolated spaces into one welcoming home."

"In this light, we can interpret the mission entrusted by the Lord to Peter and his successors for the benefit of the entire holy People of God. It is a mission to listen, with his help, to the voice of each person; to discern inspirations; to guide the way; to correct errors; to instruct, encourage, exhort and accompany our brothers and sisters so that, docile to the action of the same Spirit, they may cooperate in the salvation of one another and of all humanity," he said.

St. Peter's example, therefore, "is an invitation to every Christian to become a builder of unity, placing God at the center of one’s life and drawing close to one’s brothers and sisters, attentive to their circumstances and needs," he said, so that God's message "might be fully proclaimed."

St. Paul, whose symbols are the book and the sword, is the "tireless herald of the Good News," he said.

The symbols represent the word of God being capable of penetrating and transforming even the hardest of hearts, as was seen with St. Paul's conversion, who was led away from violence and onto "the path of love," he said.

St. Augustine said, "God took the persecutor of the Church and made him a messenger of peace. He forgave him all his sins and placed him in a ministry where he could forgive the sins of others," Pope Leo added.

"Let us pray to Sts. Peter and Paul that they may sustain us on our journey of communion in the footsteps of the Savior," he said.

Keeping with a long tradition, a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople, led by Orthodox Metropolitan Emmanuel Adamakis of Chalcedon, was present at the Mass.

The pope and the Orthodox metropolitan embraced behind the altar during the exchange of the sign of peace, and they descended the stairs below the main altar to pray at St. Peter's tomb after Mass ended.

Before processing out of the basilica, the pope also stood a few moments in prayer before the dark bronze statue of St. Peter, which is clothed on his feast day with ornate vestments and a jeweled tiara. 

Sts. Peter and Paul understood and proclaimed the Gospel with their own distinctive voice, Pope Leo said before praying the Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square.

Their stark differences do not make them adversaries, he said, on the contrary, "they became the symbol of the many other diversities that the one Spirit unites into a single whole."

"The patron saints of the Church of Rome experienced the challenges of communion; they knew it, served it, and proclaimed it as a sacrament of divine life," the pope said. "Their witness has contributed decisively to ensuring that the Christian presence in history is directed not toward dominion, but toward service, unity and reconciliation."

What U.S. Archbishops Said After Receiving the Pallium From Pope Leo

On the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Leo XIV June 29, Pope Leo gave 35 newly appointed archbishops the pallium, the woolen band adorned with crosses that the heads of archdioceses wear around their shoulders over their Mass vestments that...

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Opening the first day of his second consistory with cardinals from around the world, Pope Leo XIV condemned war as "never blessed by God" while urging the Church's leaders to embrace a style of listening and collaboration.

The June 26 gathering marked the opening of a two-day meeting focused on the implementation of the Synod on Synodality, the pope's first encyclical, "Magnifica Humanitas,", and the Church's mission in a rapidly changing world.

Celebrating Mass in St. Peter's Basilica before the working sessions began June 26, Pope Leo said the unity of the human family "takes precedence over individual peoples and states" and described peace as "a duty of justice."

"Therefore, war is never worthy of humanity, and it is never blessed by God, because, even if we are equipped with high-tech weapons, the Creator has endowed us with intelligence and free will to resolve conflicts as human beings and not as beasts," he said in his homily.

The remarks further developed one of the central themes of "Magnifica Humanitas," released in May, in which the pope called the traditional just-war theory "now outdated" in an age shaped by advanced weapons systems and artificial intelligence.

Developed through the writings of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, just-war theory has long held that military force can be morally justified only under strict conditions, including self-defense, legitimate authority, proportionality and the exhaustion of peaceful alternatives. The teaching has resurfaced in recent debates surrounding conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East.

Quoting his encyclical, Pope Leo said the Church must continue working toward a "civilization of love," offering an alternative to ideological division, violence and instability because "the Church is never partial, since she is for everyone."

Addressing the 178 cardinals who attended the June consistory, the pope said in his introductory remarks after the Mass that  "none of us is untouched by the many forms of conflict, domination and division that run through our societies today."

He also asked the cardinals to help him discern how the themes of "Magnifica Humanitas" are being received in local churches around the world.

"I am especially interested in hearing how these pages resonate in your churches, what questions they raise, what perspectives they open and what steps they suggest," he said, adding that an encyclical continues its life only when it is "received, interpreted and embodied in the concrete life of the churches."

Following the closed-door morning session, the Vatican released a summary, saying that each of the ten working groups of cardinals spoke of "suffering experienced by men and women living through this period of profound social transformation."

A consistent theme throughout the first day was the growing polarization around the world and a deepening distrust of institutions and democracy, trends that have fueled political tension and violence and have been exacerbated by the spread of misinformation. The Vatican summary also said the cardinals spoke of religious violence in many parts of the world, citing the rise of antisemitism, as well as the rise of loneliness.

Throughout both his homily and  opening address, Pope Leo repeatedly returned to the importance of listening. Known for his style of attentive listening and collaboration before his election, Pope Leo told the cardinals  the papacy "cannot be lived in isolation."

"It needs your experience, your pastoral wisdom and your knowledge of the Churches and peoples entrusted to your care," he said. "I need your support: strong, explicit and public."

The pope encouraged frank discussion during the consistory's working sessions and said he welcomed honest disagreement offered in a spirit of communion.

"I need your freedom, your candor and your loyalty," he said. "Sincere counsel is always an act of communion."

He also emphasized that the cardinals had gathered not simply to discuss the Church itself.

"We are not here first and foremost to reflect on the Church's internal life," he said.

Instead, he said, the themes before the consistory all point toward a single question: "How can we help our churches today proclaim the Gospel with greater fidelity, freedom and credibility?"

Many groups discussed loneliness experienced by both the elderly and the young, contributing to increasing rates of suicide and drug use. Some cardinals aired concerns about the societal impact of secularism.

"They noted that a growing weariness and the absence of a shared horizon of truth have made it increasingly difficult for people to recognize the dignity of others and to build authentic relationships," the Vatican summary said.

The Holy See reported that some cardinals said the Church should respond to growing social divisions by serving as a welcoming mother, acknowledging its own shortcomings and standing alongside those who suffer. They identified synodality, charity, solidarity, education, popular piety and efforts to promote peace and dialogue as hopeful signs for the Church and the world.

WASHINGTON - This week, the Trump Administration ultimately prevailed in a court challenge to its decision to end temporary protected status (TPS) for Haiti and Syria. Bishop Brendan J. Cahill, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on Migration, issued the following statement in response: 

“Revoking the legal status of hundreds of thousands of people residing in our country creates a moral crisis when returning to their country of origin is not a safe or reasonable option. If we are truly to affirm the God-given dignity of every human person, we as a nation cannot turn a blind eye to such an injustice and the impossible choices it will create for families and communities. 

“Even if the Administration determines TPS is no longer warranted, deferred enforced departure remains a tool available to the President, and we urge him to exercise right judgement in this way. Forcibly sending families to dire conditions is a legacy all leaders should seek to avoid. To that end, my brother bishops and I also continue to call upon Congress to act—to meet this moment with the moral fortitude that is so desperately needed.”

The USCCB’s Committee on Migration has encouraged recent bipartisan efforts in Congress to pass legislation that would require the Secretary of Homeland Security to extend Haiti’s TPS designation. In January, Bishop Cahill was also joined by his fellow chairman in calling on the Administration to extend TPS for Haitians.

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WASHINGTON – “As rescue efforts are underway, I urge the international community to mobilize in support of the Venezuelan people, and to send the necessary humanitarian assistance to alleviate their suffering,” said Bishop A. Elias Zaidan, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace.

Bishop Zaidan’s statement follows:

“In the wake of the devastating earthquakes that have impacted Venezuela, causing significant loss of life and severe destruction, I offer the prayers and solidarity of the Church in the United States to our sisters and brothers affected by this tragedy.

“As rescue efforts are underway, I urge the international community to mobilize in support of the Venezuelan people, and to send the necessary humanitarian assistance to alleviate their suffering. Catholic Relief Services, the international relief agency of the Church in the United States, and its partner Caritas Venezuela, are already responding and assessing needs at this early stage. We understand the U.S. government is readying an initial response and appreciate their partnership in responding to this natural disaster. 

“Let us all join in prayer that Our Lady of Coromoto, patroness of Venezuela, will comfort and protect her children and that compassionate international assistance will arrive swiftly.”

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