Castel Gandolfo: Welcoming a diverse group of pilgrims on a historic ecumenical journey, Pope Leo XIV emphasized the urgent need for Christian unity and the grace to live out fraternal charity. Speaking to Greek Orthodox, Byzantine Catholic, and Latin Catholic faithful from the United States at the papal summer residence, the Pope praised the joint pilgrimage to Rome, Constantinople, and Nicea as a powerful sign of healing and communion in the body of Christ.
“This shared journey is one of the blessed fruits of the ecumenical movement,” Pope Leo told the delegation, which includes fifty pilgrims led by Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elpidophoros of America and Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey. The pilgrimage titled From Rome to New Rome symbolically retraces early Christian roots, linking the martyrdom of Sts. Peter and Paul in Rome, the apostolic legacy of St. Andrew in Constantinople, and the theological cornerstone of the First Council of Nicea, whose 1700th anniversary is being commemorated this year.
Highlighting the common celebration of Easter in 2025 by both Western and Eastern Christians, Pope Leo called it a “resounding Alleluia” that united all traditions in proclaiming the central truth of the Resurrection: “Christ is risen! He is truly risen!” These words, he said, declare not just a historical event but the enduring hope won by Christ's victory over sin and death.
Looking forward to the pilgrims’ next stop in Constantinople, Pope Leo asked them to carry his fraternal greetings to Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew and shared his hope of reuniting with the Patriarch during the upcoming commemorations of the Council of Nicea. The Pope described the growing ties between the Churches as “signs of hope,” pointing to decades of theological dialogue and renewed charity since the historic lifting of mutual excommunications by Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras in 1965.
“As we move toward the two-thousandth anniversary of our Redemption,” Pope Leo reflected, “we are called to return spiritually to Jerusalem, the city of peace, where the Church first received the Holy Spirit and began its mission to the world.”
He concluded his address with a prayer that the pilgrimage would not only deepen the faith of those taking part but also inspire all Christians to be healers in a wounded world. “May our journey back to the sources help us become bearers of God’s comfort like the Good Samaritan ready to pour out the oil of mercy and the wine of joy upon humanity today.”