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Catholic ministry helps adult children of divorce find healing and love

Bethany and Daniel Meola, a married couple with a special heart for adult children of divorce, created the Life-Giving Wounds apostolate, currently celebrating its five-year anniversary in 2025. / Credit: Photo courtesy of Life-Giving Wounds

Miami, Fla., Jun 30, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

Kendra Beigel was 14 years old when her family life took a turn for the worse. In her small-town Minnesota home, she was used to her parents arguing, but her family situation further disintegrated when her mother intervened in her father’s alcohol issues and her parents went to court.

“It was like the whole town decided to take a side and get involved in our family business,” recalled Beigel, who was raised Catholic. “I had to grow up quickly… Each stage of the initial separation and how it comes out of the blue, then the divorce and everything that it brings, and then the subsequent annulment; each brought its own hurts and difficulties and it never was easier.”

Now an adult, Beigel remembers thinking back then, “How can you just be a kid anymore?” Navigating child custody routines, “you [the child] have to be the one to pack the suitcase and to move and uproot your life.”

“I threw myself into academics and extracurriculars,” she said. “No one on the outside could tell how much I was hurting because I was excelling externally… You start to really put a lot of blame and guilt on yourself when you have no one to talk to, no one thinks to bring it up with you, and you’re really just trying to run away.”

Kendra and Joe Beigel, Life-Giving Wounds alumni, smile for the camera after their wedding on Jan. 18, 2025, in Steubenville, Ohio. Credit: Photo courtesy of Caitlin Renn Photography
Kendra and Joe Beigel, Life-Giving Wounds alumni, smile for the camera after their wedding on Jan. 18, 2025, in Steubenville, Ohio. Credit: Photo courtesy of Caitlin Renn Photography

When ingrained fears caused her to struggle with family dynamics, friendships, and dating in college, Beigel knew the past had left its mark. In October 2022, she joined a Life-Giving Wounds retreat for adult children of divorce (ACODs) near her home in Denver.

Celebrating its five-year milestone in 2025, Life-Giving Wounds — back then just a two-year-old apostolate — was already making a big impact. 

The beginnings 

The ministry was created in 2020 by Daniel and Bethany Meola, a married couple with a special heart for adult children of divorce. Beginning with online retreats during the COVID-19 pandemic, Life-Giving Wounds now hosts events both online and in-person, with a presence in almost 40 dioceses throughout the United States in addition to the Archdiocese of Toronto, Canada.

Himself an ACOD, Daniel Meola explained: “The more I dug into it in college and post-college, I realized there are lot of ministries for divorcees but not as much for adult children of divorce.”

Since a high school retreat had turned his life around after his parents’ divorce, he recognized that “there needs to be an intentional ministry and community for others like me. Jesus’ heart desires this.”

Daniel Meola speaks during a Life-Giving Wounds retreat. Credit: Photo courtesy of Life-Giving Wounds
Daniel Meola speaks during a Life-Giving Wounds retreat. Credit: Photo courtesy of Life-Giving Wounds

In addition to retreats, Life-Giving Wounds offers a blog with topics ranging from “Book and Media Reviews” to “Relationship Advice”; a book published in 2023; and even a summer 2025 Online Reading Group and support group using Victor Hugo’s “Les Misérables” as a springboard.

The retreat helped Beigel break through the bubble she had found herself in after her parents’ divorce.

“Going in, you’re just thinking, none of my friends have gone through divorce. This is something that feels like such an isolating cross,” she said. “But as soon as I walked in, I saw everyone at my parish who I had no idea was in ‘the secret club that no one wants to be a part of,’ as they joked.”

The retreat was transformative. “I really appreciated that they had a whole retreat manual to follow,” she noted. “It really invited you to take a leap of faith and invite the Divine Physician into these ugly areas of your heart.”

Unbeknownst to her, a young man who had participated in a Maryland retreat earlier that year in August 2022 was Beigel’s future husband, Joe Beigel. The fact that they were both Life-Giving Wounds alumni would bring them together. Joe said the friend who introduced them “got my attention” by commenting that Kendra had attended Life-Giving Wounds and had been featured on the podcast “Restored.”

Chuckling, Kendra recounted Joe’s approach: “[He said,] ‘You can go ahead and delete that Catholic Match profile — you won’t need it now that you met me!’ And it worked!”

Joe and Kendra Beigel were married on Jan. 18, 2025.

To other ACODs, Joe’s message is: “You’re not doomed to repeat your parents’ mistakes and to not get married or to settle for less in a marriage, because God wants so much more for you.”

Kendra agreed. “The thing that shifted with marriage, it’s not that you are done working on the wounds from your parents’ divorce, you just have someone you are working on it with, because that’s what marriage is. You’re working together first and foremost, helping each other along.”

Craig Soto II and Sidney Soto, Life-Giving Wounds alumni, celebrate their engagement April 2024. Credit: Photo ourtesy of Paoletti Photography
Craig Soto II and Sidney Soto, Life-Giving Wounds alumni, celebrate their engagement April 2024. Credit: Photo ourtesy of Paoletti Photography

Craig Soto II and Sidney Soto, another Life-Giving Wounds alumni couple from Kansas, are preparing to welcome a baby into the world. Craig Soto said of Life-Giving Wounds’ anniversary: “Truly, what five years means to me is hope.” 

“When we did the full-body scan to make sure the baby was healthy, I remember the sonogram technician said everything was normal,” Soto said. The simple phrase hit him hard. 

“That’s a beautiful gift for me, for somebody who’s lived a very abnormal life. I got so used to it that ‘the normal’ actually became confusing and strange to me,” said Soto, a retreat leader. “To hear that our child is ‘normal’... To me, a normal life is all I’ve ever really wanted. That’s why I say that there’s hope, because I have hope for a normal life.”

Those called to the vocation of marriage aren’t the only ones who have benefited from Life-Giving Wounds. In fact, retreat alumnus Father Ryan Martiré of the Diocese of Bismarck, North Dakota, helped bring Life-Giving Wounds to seminarians.

Martiré participated in one of the first online retreats as a seminarian, later joining an in-person retreat while studying at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis. 

The seminary’s rector “saw a tremendous need in the seminary and asked if I would introduce this ministry to more people in the seminary,” said Martiré, who was ordained on June 11, 2024. “Not only healing for themselves, but to be fathers who can provide this healing for others.”

Kenrick-Glennon Seminary held its first retreat in spring 2022 and has the honor of being Life-Giving Wounds’ first seminary chapter.

“The wound of divorce can be very attached to a father wound,” Martiré explained. “When a seminarian receives healing there, it can have a serious spiritual impact, that he receives confidence to be a father.”

“One of the things that struck me when I was studying wounds of divorce is that so many children with parents who have divorced did not experience a word of accompaniment from their pastor or priest: ‘I’m so sorry that happened,’” he added. “A child who’s starting to self-protect and live hyper-independently because of their parents’ divorce needs a spiritual father or a spiritual mother to comfort them and to acknowledge that they’re hurting in their perfectionism, or in whatever way they’re coping.”

Brady Hershberger, a young adult Life-Giving Wounds alumnus from Ohio, said: “I think Life-Giving Wounds is making the ACOD population feel seen, and like we don’t have to keep sweeping this wound under the rug as if it weren’t seriously a wound… It gives me a sense of hope that people like me will be seen and loved and heard.”

Indeed, Martiré said he believes Life-Giving Wounds has a special connection to the 2025 Jubilee, with its theme of hope.

Father Ryan Martiré (center right) of the Bismarck Diocese, a Life-Giving Wounds alumnus, processes with Father Eric Artz after their ordination on June 11, 2024. Credit: Photo courtesy of Deacon Joe Krupinsky
Father Ryan Martiré (center right) of the Bismarck Diocese, a Life-Giving Wounds alumnus, processes with Father Eric Artz after their ordination on June 11, 2024. Credit: Photo courtesy of Deacon Joe Krupinsky

“What struck me my first time at the retreat was seeing really stable, healed, holy people giving the presentations. People who are coming from a dark path with very divided families, and you see that they’re not living defined by their wounds,” he said. “That’s very hopeful that, as Christians, we don’t need to live in the past. We can become transformed by Christ if we let him into our suffering, our dark and imprisoned places.”

Life-Giving Wounds co-founder Bethany Meola said she is excited for what’s to come. The ministry has projects focused on engaged and married couples in the works, and they also look to increase outreach to college students, Hispanic ministry, seminaries and religious, and more.

“This anniversary is an opportunity to look back and see where God has taken us so far,” she said. “Obviously we have objective numbers to see how the ministry has grown from local to all around the country, from just a few retreats to more and more every year, which has been so beautiful. But more than the numbers, we’re reflecting on the people we’ve been privileged to encounter — more and more people all the time whom Life-Giving Wounds can hopefully lend some support to.”

U.S. archbishops reflect on the importance of fostering unity

ROME (CNS) -- When Pope Leo XIV gave newly appointed metropolitan archbishops their pallium on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, he told them it symbolizes their responsibility to care for their people and to promote unity.

"Dear brothers, this sign of the pastoral responsibility entrusted to you also expresses your communion with the Bishop of Rome, so that in the unity of the Catholic faith, each of you may build up that communion in your local churches," he said in his homily during Mass in St. Peter's Basilica June 29.

He urged them to "learn to experience communion in this way -- as unity within diversity -- so that the various gifts, united in the one confession of faith, may advance the preaching of the Gospel."

Eight of the 54 archbishops receiving the pallium -- a woolen band worn around the shoulders over Mass vestments -- were from the United States.

Speaking with Catholic News Service in Rome, many of them reflected on their role in helping foster peace and unity. 

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Archbishop W. Shawn McKnight of Kansas City, Kansas, poses for a photo at the Pontifical North American College in Rome June 29, 2025, after receiving the pallium from Pope Leo XIV. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Archbishop W. Shawn McKnight of Kansas City, Kansas, said that ever since Pope Leo was elected and spoke about peace and unity, he has taken that message "to heart" and has been thinking, "What does that mean for us back home?"

"How do we tend to the unity of the church, such that we can be an oasis of peace in our own communities, in a climate sometimes that is very chaotic, adversarial, polarized," he said. "I think we have to consider the ways in which the church can be a better sanctuary of mercy in that context." 

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Archbishop Joe S. Vásquez of Galveston-Houston speaks with a Catholic News Service reporter at the Pontifical North American College in Rome June 26, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Archbishop Joe S. Vásquez of Galveston-Houston said it comes down to taking the time to listen to and engage with one another in a way that is respectful and civil. 

All dialogue and discussion about things of great importance can be done without "having to be so critical of one another as to demean one another, disrespect one another or not appreciate the other as a person," he said. 

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Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger of Detroit poses for a photo at the Pontifical North American College in Rome June 29, 2025, after receiving the pallium from Pope Leo XIV. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger of Detroit noted there are Catholics in his archdiocese that "hop from parish to parish looking for the message they want to hear, the style of liturgy they want to experience."

But, he said, "historically, parishes were places where you bond together as a people in a community, and you know each other, and you support each other, and you help each other, and when my faith is weak, I lean on you. When your faith is weak, you lean on me."

"That sense of unity on the local level, I think, is suffering, and so I really think one of the ways we Americans, and especially we in the Archdiocese of Detroit, I begin with myself at home, we need to really look at how we're building those local communities and that creates unity," he said. 

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Archbishop Michael G. McGovern of Omaha, Nebraska, poses for a photo at the Pontifical North American College in Rome June 29, 2025, after receiving the pallium from Pope Leo XIV. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Archbishop Michael G. McGovern of Omaha, Nebraska, said, "I'm everybody's bishop. I'm not just the bishop for some people."

What that looks like, he said, is "one Sunday I'm going to go to the traditional Latin Mass community and I'll wear my choir robes and I'll sit on the side. I don't say the Latin Mass, but I just, I'm there to be present to the people because they're part of the church."

Another day, he said, he will go to the Vietnamese community in Omaha, where they recently celebrated a confirmation in a church that had been built by Polish immigrants.

"We're Catholics together. We're Christians together," he said. "I have to buy into your world before you buy into my world," which really speaks to people.

"I'm in a unique position to put a new face on the church as a bishop if I'm willing to get to know what's interesting to people, what are they concerned about, and when I'm able to do that, I think then I'm able to build unity," Archbishop McGovern said. 

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Archbishop Richard G. Henning of Boston poses for a photo at the Pontifical North American College in Rome June 29, 2025, after receiving the pallium from Pope Leo XIV. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Archbishop Richard G. Henning of Boston said "that sense of oneness or communion is critical in the Scriptures. It's one of the things Jesus prays for that they may all be one."

"We should have our own opinions and even different opinions, but there should also be a sense in which we are a single family, that there is a unity between us, that there is a peace between us, a charity between us," he said. 

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Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob of Milwaukee poses for a photo at the Pontifical North American College in Rome June 29, 2025, after receiving the pallium from Pope Leo XIV. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob of Milwaukee said, "We have to be unified. We have to work for peace and solidarity. We have to care for the marginalized."

"That's nothing new. You can walk it right back to the Gospels and Jesus Christ, but maybe we need to put a new face on it, we need to speak to this moment," he said.

Archbishop Robert G. Casey of Cincinnati said that, "as a bishop, I'm entrusted with a flock. I don't choose that flock. It's handed over to me and it's a very diverse flock." 

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Pope Leo XIV imposed the pallium on Archbishop Robert G. Casey of Cincinnati, during Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican June 29, 2025, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

"How can I tend the sheep of my flock? All of them, not some of them, but all of them. And so I think the pope, in being a representative of Christ who calls us to peace and unity, really invites us as church to seek out that care and concern of all God's children, of all those that make up this flock we shepherd," he said.

The church has to adapt to an ever-changing world, he said. "That can be challenging because we hold fast to our truths. We are a Catholic Church that has its practices, its customs, but we're also a church that has to learn to live in the present age, as we've done throughout all of history."

British politician criticizes priest for refusing Communion over assisted dying vote

The British Parliament building in London. / Credit: Marinesea/Shutterstock

CNA Newsroom, Jun 29, 2025 / 19:05 pm (CNA).

A British politician has publicly criticized his parish priest for refusing to give him holy Communion after he voted in favor of the United Kingdom’s assisted dying bill.

Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament Chris Coghlan took to social media on Sunday and reportedly complained to Bishop Richard Moth of Arundel and Brighton, describing his treatment as “outrageous.”

Father Ian Vane, parish priest at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Dorking, Surrey, had warned Coghlan before the June 20 vote that supporting the controversial bill would constitute “obstinately persevering” in sin. He then reportedly named Coghlan, who represents Dorking and Horley in Surrey, from the pulpit two days later.

Coghlan described the priest’s actions as “completely inappropriate” and claimed it “undermines the legitimacy of religious institutions.”

The politician posted on social media that the incident raised “grave public interest” about pressure that religious members of Parliament (MPs) faced during the vote, calling it “utterly disrespectful to my family, my constituents including the congregation, and the democratic process.”

The MP’s public criticism sparked significant backlash on social media platforms, with many defending Vane and criticizing Coghlan’s comportment.

Several commentators reminded the politician of the Vatican’s doctrinal note about participation in public life, “that a well-formed Christian conscience does not permit one to vote for a political program or an individual law which contradicts the fundamental contents of faith and morals.”

“Those who are directly involved in lawmaking bodies have a grave and clear obligation to oppose any law that attacks human life. For them, as for every Catholic, it is impossible to promote such laws or to vote for them,” the Doctrinal note on Some Questions Regarding the Participation of Catholics in Political Life states.

The Diocese of Arundel and Brighton also reportedly reminded the media of the Church’s position while acknowledging the complexity of the vote.

“The Catholic Church believes in the sanctity of life and the dignity of every person,” the diocese stated, adding that Moth spoke to Coghlan “earlier this week and has offered to meet him in person to discuss the issues and concerns raised.”

Church leaders warn of grave consequences

The controversy comes as Catholic bishops and others have repeatedly raised serious concerns about the U.K.’s assisted dying legislation.

Archbishop John Sherrington of Liverpool, the lead bishop for life issues for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said he was “shocked and disappointed” by the bill’s passage.

“Allowing the medical profession to help patients end their lives will change the culture of health care and cause legitimate fears amongst those with disabilities or who are especially vulnerable in other ways,” Sherrington stated.

Cardinal Vincent Nichols, archbishop of Westminster, and Sherrington had previously warned that Catholic hospices and care homes may have no choice but to shut down if the bill becomes law, since they “may be required to cooperate with assisted suicide.”

To become law, the bill still needs to pass in the second chamber of Parliament, the unelected House of Lords. The Lords can amend legislation, but because the bill has the support of the Commons, it is likely to pass.

PHOTOS: Rome celebrates its patron saints with a burst of colorful flowers  

The Via della Conciliazione, the grand avenue leading to St. Peter’s Square in Rome, was transformed on Sunday, June 29, 2025, into a vibrant tapestry of color laid over the asphalt. / Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

Vatican City, Jun 29, 2025 / 12:50 pm (CNA).

The Via della Conciliazione, the grand avenue leading to St. Peter’s Square, was transformed on Sunday, June 29, into a vibrant tapestry of color laid over the asphalt, with dozens of floral artworks created by master artisans and volunteers from across Italy.

These floral works, rich in religious symbolism, decorated the spiritual heart of Rome as part of a new edition of the Infiorata Storica (Historic Flower Festival).

Murals made of flowers adorned the Via della Conciliazione, the grand avenue leading to St. Peter’s Square, which was transformed on June 29, 2025, into a vibrant tapestry of color. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA
Murals made of flowers adorned the Via della Conciliazione, the grand avenue leading to St. Peter’s Square, which was transformed on June 29, 2025, into a vibrant tapestry of color. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

This year’s 12th edition centered on the theme of the Jubilee of Hope, expressed through floral arrangements, each covering more than 500 square feet. The artworks were made using dried flower petals, wood shavings, colored sand, salt, sugar, and natural pigments.

This year’s 12th edition of the Infiorata Storica centered on the theme of the Jubilee of Hope, expressed through floral arrangements, each covering more than 500 square feet. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA
This year’s 12th edition of the Infiorata Storica centered on the theme of the Jubilee of Hope, expressed through floral arrangements, each covering more than 500 square feet. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

Beginning on Saturday evening, June 28, teams of floral artists and volunteers worked overnight in an intense effort that concluded at 9 a.m. Sunday — just in time for thousands of pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square for the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul to admire the floral carpets in their full splendor.

The Via della Conciliazione, the grand avenue leading to St. Peter’s Square, was transformed on June 29, 2025, into a vibrant tapestry of color with dozens of floral artworks created by master artisans and volunteers from across Italy. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA
The Via della Conciliazione, the grand avenue leading to St. Peter’s Square, was transformed on June 29, 2025, into a vibrant tapestry of color with dozens of floral artworks created by master artisans and volunteers from across Italy. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

A rich tradition reborn 

This creative and spiritual gathering aims not only to beautify the city but also to preserve a deeply rooted tradition dating back to 1625, when Benedetto Drei, head of the papal florist’s office, first decorated the entrance to St. Peter’s Basilica with flowers.

The floral works, rich in religious symbolism, decorated the spiritual heart of Rome as part of a new edition of the Infiorata Storica (Historic Flower Festival) on June 29, 2025. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA
The floral works, rich in religious symbolism, decorated the spiritual heart of Rome as part of a new edition of the Infiorata Storica (Historic Flower Festival) on June 29, 2025. Credit: Hannah Brockhaus/CNA

Though the custom faded in the 17th century, it was revived in 2013. Today, the Infiorata has become an iconic event that combines art, faith, and culture.

Within the context of the liturgical celebrations led by Pope Leo XIV, the floral exhibition offered a symbolic path of prayer and hope, linking Rome with believers from around the world.

This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA's Spanish-language news partner, and has been translated and adapted by CNA.

Pope Leo XIV warns new archbishops against pastoral plans that repeat without renewing

Pope Leo XIV spoke about unity on Sunday, June 29, 2025, after bestowing the pallium on 54 new metropolitan archbishops on the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, patrons of the city of Rome. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jun 29, 2025 / 10:15 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV warned new archbishops on Sunday against following “the same old pastoral plans without experiencing interior renewal and a willingness to respond to new challenges.”  

Speaking on the June 29 solemnity of Peter and Paul — saints recognized by the Catholic Church as pillars of the faith and venerated as patrons of the city of Rome — the pope also called for maintaining ecclesial unity while respecting diversity. 

“Our patron saints followed different paths, had different ideas, and at times argued with one another with evangelical frankness. Yet this did not prevent them from ... a living communion in the Spirit, a fruitful harmony in diversity,” the pope said. 

During Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica, where he bestowed the pallium on 54 new metropolitan archbishops, including eight from the U.S., Leo urged them to “find new paths and new approaches to preaching the Gospel” rooted in the “problems and difficulties” arising from their communities of faith.

“The two apostles... inspire us by the example of their openness to change, to new events, encounters, and concrete situations in the life of their communities, and by their readiness to consider new approaches to evangelization in response to the problems and difficulties raised by our brothers and sisters in the faith.”

After the homily, deacons descended to the tomb of the Apostle Peter, located beneath the Altar of the Chair, to retrieve the palliums the pope had blessed.

Avoiding routine and ritualism 

In his homily, the pope praised the example of Sts. Peter and Paul, highlighting their “ecclesial communion and the vitality of faith.” He stressed the importance of learning to live communion as “unity within diversity — so that the various gifts, united in the one confession of faith, may advance the preaching of the Gospel.”

For Pope Leo, the path of ecclesial communion “is awakened by the inspiration of the Spirit, unites differences, and builds bridges of unity thanks to the rich variety of charisms, gifts, and ministries.”

The pope called for fostering “fraternity” and urged his listeners to “make an effort, then, to turn our differences into a workshop of unity and communion, of fraternity and reconciliation, so that everyone in the Church, each with his or her personal history, may learn to walk side by side.”

“The whole Church needs fraternity, which must be present in all of our relationships, whether between laypeople and priests, priests and bishops, bishops and the pope. Fraternity is also needed in pastoral care, ecumenical dialogue, and the friendly relations that the Church desires to maintain with the world,” the pope said.

He also invited reflection on whether the journey of our faith “retains its energy and vitality, and whether the flame of our relationship with the Lord still burns bright.” 

“If we want to keep our identity as Christians from being reduced to a relic of the past, as Pope Francis often reminded us, it is important to move beyond a tired and stagnant faith. We need to ask ourselves: Who is Jesus Christ for us today? What place does he occupy in our lives and in the life of the Church?”

New paths and practices for the Gospel 

Leo thus encouraged a process of discernment that arises from these questions, allowing faith and the Church “to be constantly renewed and to find new paths and new approaches to preaching the Gospel.”

“This, together with communion, must be our greatest desire.”

At the end of the celebration, the pontiff descended the stairs to the tomb of the Apostle Peter and prayed for a few moments before it, accompanied by Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, head of the delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate.

The solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul is especially important for ecumenism because the two saints are honored by all apostolic traditions, and the Ecumenical Patriarchate has sent a delegation to Rome for the feast annually since the 1960s.

During the celebration, Pope Leo XIV revived the ancient tradition of personally imposing the pallium on new metropolitan archbishops.

This symbolic rite had been modified by Pope Francis in 2015, when he decided to present the pallium — a white wool band resembling a stole with six black silk crosses — to archbishops at the Vatican, while leaving it to the nuncio in each archbishop’s country to impose the pallium in a local ceremony.

At the time, Pope Francis explained that this change was meant to give greater prominence to local churches, to make the ceremony more pastoral and participatory, and to strengthen the bond between archbishops and their people, without weakening communion with Rome.

Pope Leo XIV says the unity of the Church ‘is nourished by forgiveness and mutual trust’

Pope Leo XIV spoke about unity on Sunday, June 29, 2025, after bestowing the pallium on 54 new metropolitan archbishops on the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, patrons of the city of Rome. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jun 29, 2025 / 09:40 am (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday said unity in the Catholic Church “is nourished by forgiveness and mutual trust” after bestowing the pallium on 54 new metropolitan archbishops on the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, patrons of the city of Rome. 

“If Jesus trusts us, then we too can trust one another, in his name,” the pontiff said, extending his call to unity to all Christian denominations. 

Speaking before he led those gathered in St. Peter’s Square in praying the Angelus on June 29, the pope also recalled the witness of the apostles who were martyred. 

Speaking before he led those gathered in St. Peter’s Square in praying the Angelus on June 29, 2025, Pope Leo also recalled the witness of the apostles who were martyred. Credit: Vatican Media
Speaking before he led those gathered in St. Peter’s Square in praying the Angelus on June 29, 2025, Pope Leo also recalled the witness of the apostles who were martyred. Credit: Vatican Media

“Today is the great feast of the Church of Rome, born from the witness of the Apostles Peter and Paul and made fruitful by their blood and that of many other martyrs,” he said, emphasizing that even today, “throughout the world there are Christians whom the Gospel makes generous and bold, even at the cost of their lives.”

In an ecumenical appeal, the pope emphasized that this shared sacrifice creates a “profound and invisible unity among Christian churches,” which he called, echoing Pope Francis, an “ecumenism of blood.”

In his remarks at Mass on June 29, 2025, Pope Leo reaffirmed: “My episcopal service is a service to unity, and the Church of Rome is committed, by the blood of Sts. Peter and Paul, to serving communion among all Churches.” Credit: Vatican Media
In his remarks at Mass on June 29, 2025, Pope Leo reaffirmed: “My episcopal service is a service to unity, and the Church of Rome is committed, by the blood of Sts. Peter and Paul, to serving communion among all Churches.” Credit: Vatican Media

Present during the Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Sunday morning was Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, heading the delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate sent to Rome by Bartholomew I for the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul — a celebration rich with ecumenical significance. 

In his remarks prior to the Marian prayer, the pope reaffirmed: “My episcopal service is a service to unity, and the Church of Rome is committed, by the blood of Sts. Peter and Paul, to serving communion among all Churches.”

Pope Leo XIV offers Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on June 29, 2025, the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. Present was Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, heading the delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, sent to Rome by Bartholomew I for the solemnity — a celebration rich with ecumenical significance. Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV offers Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on June 29, 2025, the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. Present was Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, heading the delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, sent to Rome by Bartholomew I for the solemnity — a celebration rich with ecumenical significance. Credit: Vatican Media

Quoting the Gospel, the pope reminded that “the stone from which Peter also receives his name is Christ. A stone rejected by men that God has made the cornerstone.” The basilicas of Sts. Peter and Paul, he pointed out, are located “outside the walls,” signifying that “what seems to us great and glorious was once rejected and cast out for being in conflict with worldly thinking.”

Leo invited all to walk “the path of the Beatitudes,” where poverty of spirit, meekness, mercy, and the thirst for justice often meet with “opposition and even persecution.” Yet, he affirmed, “the glory of God shines in his friends and along the way he shapes them, from conversion to conversion.”

At the tombs of the apostles, “a millennial destination for pilgrimage,” the pope encouraged everyone to discover that “we too can live from conversion to conversion.” The New Testament, he recalled, does not hide the apostles’ faults and sins, “because their greatness was shaped by forgiveness.” Jesus, he said, “never calls only once. That’s why we can always have hope, as the jubilee also reminds us.”

Pope Leo XIV spoke about unity on Sunday, June 29, 2025, after bestowing the pallium on 54 new metropolitan archbishops on the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, patrons of the city of Rome. Credit: Vatican Media
Pope Leo XIV spoke about unity on Sunday, June 29, 2025, after bestowing the pallium on 54 new metropolitan archbishops on the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, patrons of the city of Rome. Credit: Vatican Media

After the Angelus, Pope Leo XIV expressed his closeness with Barthélémy Boganda high school in Bangui, Central African Republic, “in mourning after the tragic accident that caused many deaths and injuries among students.” Twenty-nine students died and more than 250 were injured in a stampede on Wednesday prompted by an accidental electrical explosion. 

The pope also expressed “a heartfelt thought for the parish priests and all the priests working in Roman parishes, with gratitude and encouragement for their service.” 

Leo recalled that the day’s feast marks the annual Peter’s Pence Collection, “a sign of communion with the pope and of participation in his apostolic ministry,” and thanked “those who, through their contributions, support my first steps as the successor of Peter.” 

Archbishops must promote unity, seek new ways to share Gospel, pope says

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Archbishops around the world can provide by their example the fraternity and unity in diversity the entire Catholic Church needs today, Pope Leo XIV said.

"The whole church needs fraternity, which must be present in all of our relationships, whether between lay people and priests, priests and bishops, bishops and the pope," he said during his homily at Mass on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul June 29.

"Fraternity is also needed in pastoral care, ecumenical dialogue and the friendly relations that the church desires to maintain with the world," the pope said.

"Let us make an effort, then, to turn our differences into a workshop of unity and communion, of fraternity and reconciliation, so that everyone in the church, each with his or her personal history, may learn to walk side by side," he said. 

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Deacons carry palliums from the crypt above the tomb of St. Peter to be blessed by Pope Leo XIV during Mass for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican June 29, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

The feast day celebration in St. Peter's Basilica included the traditional blessing of the pallium, the woolen band 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.

Pope Leo revived a tradition begun by St. John Paul II in 1983 by personally placing the pallium around the shoulders of the recently named archbishops.

Pope Francis had changed the ceremony starting in 2015. The late pope had invited new archbishops to concelebrate Mass with him and be present for the blessing of the palliums as a way of underlining their bond of unity and communion with him, but the actual imposition of the pallium was done by the nuncio and took place in the archbishop's archdiocese in the presence of his faithful and bishops from neighboring dioceses.

The Office for the Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff issued a formal notification June 11 that on June 29 Pope Leo would preside over the Eucharistic celebration, bless the palliums and impose them on the new metropolitan archbishops. 

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Pope Leo XIV gives his homily during Mass for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican June 29, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

According to the Vatican, 54 archbishops from more than two dozen countries who were named over the past 12 months received the palliums. Eight of them were from the United States: Cardinal Robert W. McElroy of Washington; Archbishop W. Shawn McKnight of Kansas City, Kansas; Archbishop Michael G. McGovern of Omaha, Nebraska; Archbishop Robert G. Casey of Cincinnati; Archbishop Joe S. Vásquez of Galveston-Houston; Archbishop Jeffrey S. Grob of Milwaukee; Archbishop Richard G. Henning of Boston; and Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger of Detroit.
The pope blessed the palliums after they were brought up from the crypt above the tomb of St. Peter. Each archbishop then approached Pope Leo by the altar and either knelt or bowed their head 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 saints who were martyred on different days and yet share the same feast day.

Sts. Peter and Paul were two very different people with different backgrounds, faith journeys and ways of evangelizing, Pope Leo said. They were at odds over "the proper way to deal with gentile converts" and would debate the issue. 

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The statue of St. Peter is adorned with papal vestments for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul as bishops and cardinals attend Mass celebrated by Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican June 29, 2025. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)

And yet, they were brothers in the Holy Spirit, and they both shared "a single fate, that of martyrdom, which united them definitively to Christ," he said. 

Their stories have "much to say to us, the community of the Lord's disciples," he said, especially regarding the importance of "ecclesial communion and the vitality of faith."

"The history of Peter and Paul shows us that the communion to which the Lord calls us is a unison of voices and personalities that does not eliminate anyone's freedom," Pope Leo said.

"Our patron saints followed different paths, had different ideas and at times argued with one another with evangelical frankness. Yet this did not prevent them from living the 'concordia apostolorum,' that is, a living communion in the Spirit, a fruitful harmony in diversity," he said.

"It is important that we learn to experience communion in this way -- as unity within diversity -- so that the various gifts, united in the one confession of faith, may advance the preaching of the Gospel," Pope Leo said.

Sts. Peter and Paul challenge Catholics to follow their example of fraternity and to think about "the vitality of our faith," he said. "As disciples, we can always risk falling into a rut, a routine, a tendency to follow the same old pastoral plans without experiencing interior renewal and a willingness to respond to new challenges." 

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Cardinals and archbishops pray during a Mass marking the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul at St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican June 29, 2025. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)

The two apostles were open to change, new events, encounters and concrete situations in the life of their communities, the pope said, and they were always ready "to consider new approaches to evangelization in response to the problems and difficulties raised by our brothers and sisters in the faith."

In the day's Gospel reading, Jesus asked his disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" which he continues to ask his disciples today, "challenging us to examine whether our faith life retains its energy and vitality, and whether the flame of our relationship with the Lord still burns bright," the pope said. 

"If we want to keep our identity as Christians from being reduced to a relic of the past, as Pope Francis often reminded us, it is important to move beyond a tired and stagnant faith," he said, and ask: "Who is Jesus Christ for us today? What place does he occupy in our lives and in the life of the church? How can we bear witness to this hope in our daily lives and proclaim it to those whom we meet?"

"Brothers and sisters, the exercise of a discernment born of these questions can enable our faith and the faith of the church to be constantly renewed and to find new paths and new approaches to preaching the Gospel. This, together with communion, must be our greatest desire," 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. Also present were members of the Synod of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church.

The pope and the Orthodox metropolitan also descended the stairs below the main altar to pray at St. Peter's tomb.

"I would like to confirm on this solemn feast that my episcopal ministry is at the service of unity, and that the church of Rome is committed by the blood shed by Sts. Peter and Paul to serving in love the communion of all churches," Pope Leo said before praying the Angelus with those gathered in St. Peter's Square. 

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A floral decoration can be seen during the "Infiorata 2025" along the main street leading to St. Peter's Basilica June 29, 2025, in Rome. Volunteers from all over Italy create the floral decorations each year on the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, the patron saints of Rome. (CNS photo/Pablo Esparza)

"The New Testament does not conceal the errors, conflicts and sins of those whom we venerate as the greatest apostles. Their greatness was shaped by forgiveness," he said. "The risen Lord reached out to them more than once, to put them back on the right path. Jesus never calls just one time. That is why we can always hope. The Jubilee is itself a reminder of this."

In fact, "those who follow Jesus must tread the path of the beatitudes, where poverty of spirit, meekness, mercy, hunger and thirst for justice, and peace-making are often met with opposition and even persecution," he said. "Yet God's glory shines forth in his friends and continues to shape them along the way, passing from conversion to conversion."

Pallium: U.S. archbishops on healing division

Pallium: U.S. archbishops on healing division

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul June 29, 2025, and gave eight newly-appointed U.S. metropolitan archbishops palliums -- woolen bands symbolizing an archbishop's unity with the pope and his authority and responsibility...

Supreme Court is Right to Affirm Parental Rights in Education, says Bishop Rhoades

WASHINGTON – “Parents have a right to direct their children’s education, especially regarding subjects that touch on faith and morals,” said Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Religious Liberty. Following the 6-3 decision of the Supreme Court of the United States in Mahmoud v. Taylor, he offered the following statement: 

“Public schools in our diverse country include families from many communities with a variety of deep-seated convictions about faith and morals. When these schools address issues that touch on these matters, they ought to respect all families. Parents do not forfeit their rights as primary educators of their children when they send their kids to public schools. The parents in Montgomery County did not seek to impose their religious viewpoints on others; they simply asked to opt out of a program that was offensive to their faith. 

“To be sure, children should not be learning that their personal identity as male or female can be separated from their bodies. But if a public school chooses to offer these kinds of programs, it ought to respect those who choose not to participate. The school board was wrong to interfere with the rights of the parents, and I am grateful that the Supreme Court has moved to rectify this injustice.”

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Remain united, care for those who are lost, suffering, pope tells priests

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Priests are called to be embraced and shaped by God's boundless love, and to realize that there is no place for division and hatred of any kind, Pope Leo XIV said.

"Reconciled with one another, united and transformed by the love that flows abundantly from the Heart of Christ, let us walk together humbly and resolutely in his footsteps, firm in faith and open to all in charity," he told priests from all over the world.

"Let us bring the peace of the risen Lord to our world, with the freedom born of the knowledge that we have been loved, chosen and sent by the Father," he said in his homily during Mass in St. Peter's Basilica June 27, the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests.

The Mass marked the conclusion of a week of Jubilee celebrations for seminarians, bishops and priests, where Pope Leo reiterated the need to ground one's vocation in God's love, Jesus' friendship and the Holy Spirit's transformative power, as well as the need to be united and missionary in a world thirsting for meaning and hope.

During the Mass, the pope also ordained 32 priests from Asia, Africa, the Americas, Europe and Oceania. 

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Ordinands lie prostrate during Mass with Pope Leo XIV on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican June 27, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

In his homily, he told the ordinands, "What I have to say is simple, but I consider it important for your future and for the future of the souls entrusted to your care."

"Love God and your brothers and sisters, and give yourselves to them generously. Be fervent in your celebration of the sacraments, in prayer, especially in adoration before the Eucharist, and in your ministry," he told them. "Keep close to your flock, give freely of your time and energy to everyone, without reserve and without partiality, as the pierced side of the crucified Jesus and the example of the saints teach us to do."

He encouraged them to look among the many examples of holy priests in the church's history. "Learn their stories, study their lives and work, imitate their virtues, be inspired by their zeal and invoke their intercession often and insistently!" he exhorted.

"All too often, today's world offers models of success and prestige that are dubious and short-lived. Do not let yourselves be taken in by them!" he said.

Instead, look to those who, "frequently hidden and unassuming," have spent their lives in service of the Lord and their brothers and sisters, he said. "Keep their memory alive by your own example of fidelity."

Pope Leo told priests that the Sacred Heart of Jesus "is entrusted in a special way to us, so that we can make it present in our world." 

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Pope Leo XIV lays hands on an ordinand during Mass on the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican June 27, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

They contribute to the work of salvation in several ways, he said, first, by imitating the Good Shepherd who watches over his flock, seeks the lost, helps the wounded and strengthens the weak and sick.

"In this age of vast and devastating conflicts," he said, "the love of God has no limits. We are called to let ourselves be embraced and shaped by that love, and to realize that in God's eyes -- and our own as well -- there is no place for division and hatred of any kind."

God also exhorts his priests to "entrust ourselves, along a daily path of conversion, to the transforming power of his Spirit who dwells in our hearts," he said.

"We are called to exercise pastoral charity with a generous love, like that of the Father, and to foster in our hearts the desire that no one be lost but that everyone, also through our ministry, may come to know Christ and have eternal life in him," the pope said.

"We are called to deepen our closeness to Jesus and to be a source of harmony in the midst of our brother priests," he said. "We do so by bearing on our shoulders those who are lost, granting forgiveness to those who have erred, seeking out those who have gone astray or been left behind and caring for those who suffer in body or spirit."

Every priest must seek to "remain united with their bishop and within the presbyterate," Pope Leo said. "For the more we are united among ourselves, the more we will be able to lead others to the fold of the Good Shepherd and to live as brothers and sisters in the one house of the Father."

 

Pope Leo ordains priests: Be faithful!

Pope Leo ordains priests: Be faithful!

On the feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, during the Jubilee of Priests, Pope Leo XIV ordained 32 men to the priesthood and urged them to be faithful witnesses of service. (CNS video/Robert Duncan)

Pope: Our cities must not be freed of the marginalized, but of marginalization

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Too often, in the name of security, war is waged against the poor, Pope Leo XIV said.

The Holy Year instead indicates that safety is found in the culture of encounter, he said. The Jubilee "asks of us the restitution and redistribution of unjustly accumulated wealth, as the way to personal and civil reconciliation."

The pope made his comments during a meeting marking the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking June 26. Dozens of guests attended the gathering in the San Damaso Courtyard at the Vatican, including Italian government officials, individuals in recovery for substance abuse and those who assist them. 

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Pope Leo XIV marks the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking with a meeting in the San Damaso Courtyard at the Vatican June 26, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

"Today, brothers and sisters, we are engaged in a battle that cannot be abandoned as long as, around us, anyone is still imprisoned in the various forms of addiction," Pope Leo said.

"Our fight is against those who make their immense business out of drugs and every other addiction -- think of alcohol or gambling," he said. "There are huge concentrations of interest and extensive criminal organizations that states have a duty to dismantle."

However, he said, "it is easier to fight against their victims." 

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Pope Leo XIV greets people as he marks the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking with a meeting in the San Damaso Courtyard at the Vatican June 26, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

"Too often, in the name of security, war is waged against the poor, filling prisons with those who are merely the final link in a chain of death. Those who hold the chain in their hands instead manage to gain influence and impunity," he said. 

"Our cities must not be freed of the marginalized, but of marginalization; they must be cleared not of the desperate, but of desperation," he said.

"The fight against drug trafficking, educational commitment among the poor, the defense of Indigenous communities and migrants, and fidelity to the social doctrine of the church are in many places considered subversive," he said.

"The Jubilee indicates the culture of encounter as the way to safety," he said, and challenges must be tackled together.

"We conquer evil together. Joy is found together. Injustice is fought together. The God who created and knows each one of us -- and is more intimate to me than I am to myself -- made us to be together," he said. 

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Pope Leo XIV marks the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking with a meeting in the San Damaso Courtyard at the Vatican June 26, 2025. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

"Of course, there are also bonds that hurt and human groups where freedom is lacking. But these, too, can only be overcome together, trusting those who do not profit from our suffering, those whom we can meet and who meet us with selfless attention," the pope said.

"Drugs and addiction are an invisible prison that you, in different ways, have known and fought, but we are all called to freedom," Pope Leo told his audience.

"St. Augustine confessed that only in Christ did the restlessness of his heart find peace. We seek peace and joy, we thirst for them. And many deceptions can delude and even imprison us in this quest," he said.

"The church needs you. Humanity needs you. Education and politics need you. Together, we will make the infinite dignity imprinted on each person prevail over every degrading addiction," the pope said.

"Let us go forward together, then, multiplying the places of healing, encounter and education: pastoral paths and social policies that start from the street and never give anyone up for lost," he said.