Pope Leo XIV sends message of unity with American Byzantine Catholics

 

Pope Leo XIV with participants in the Jubilee of the Eastern Churches, which took place in May 2025  (@VATICAN MEDIA)

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Pope Leo sends message to Byzantine Catholics in United States

As the third Metropolitan Assembly of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh kicks off, the Pope shares how their meeting is “a visible sign of communion in the Church."

By Kielce Gussie

Pope Leo XIV sent a message to the participants of the Metropolitan Assembly of the Byzantine Catholic Archeparchy of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the United States, dated July 12, 2025. Convoked by the Metropolitan Archbishop, William Skurla, and the Council of Hierarchs, the meeting is taking place at the Byzantine Church of Saint Mary in Whiting, Indiana from July 16-20.

The goal of the Assembly is to serve as a “cornerstone for unity, reflection, and spiritual renewal, bringing together clergy and laity from across the Metropolitan Church of Pittsburgh.”

A visible sign of communion

In his message, the Pope highlighted the Assembly’s theme, Come, let us worship and bow before Christ, saying it “offers a precious opportunity to grow in unity and to reaffirm your commitment to the Lord.”

He pointed out that through the Assembly’s liturgical celebrations, prayers, and dialogue, they will be able to continue with their steadfast witness to Christ and proclamation of the Gospel in the vibrant tradition of the Byzantine Catholic Churches.

Bringing the clergy, religious, lay faithful together with the representatives from the Exarchate of Toronto and the Dicastery for the Eastern Churches, Pope Leo explained, “offers a visible sign of communion in the Church.”

He extended his gratitude for the witness of the Assembly’s forebearers, who established the Byzantine communities throughout North America in spite of difficulties and an unknown future. The Pope said, “Their legacy continues in your courageous embrace of pastoral renewal, which is rooted in fidelity to your heritage.”

Closing his message, Pope Leo stressed his spiritual closeness to the Byzantine community in the United States and entrusted this Assembly to the Virgin Mary. He gave his Apostolic Blessing to the Assembly and everyone in the Archeparchy “as a pledge of wisdom, joy, and peace in the Lord.”

History of the Archeparchy of Pittsburgh

The Archeparchy of Pittsburgh – chief diocese of an Eastern Catholic ecclesiastical province – is one of only two in the United States; the other is the Ukrainian Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. The Pittsburgh Archeparchy traces its roots back to 1924 as the first Greek Catholic Exarchate in the country.

According to the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, there are around 300,000 faithful in the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Church in the United States.

At Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV meets with pilgrims from United States representing Latin Catholics, Byzantine Catholics and Greek Orthodox

 

Pope Leo poses with pilgrims on an ecumenical Orthodox-Catholic pilgrimage led by Cardinal Joseph Tobin (l) and Metropolitan Elpidophoros (r)  (@VATICAN MEDIA)

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Pope Leo XIV: Seek grace to pursue path of unity and fraternal charity

At Castel Gandolfo, Pope Leo XIV received Greek Orthodox, Byzantine Catholic, and Latin Catholic pilgrims from the United States who are taking part in an ecumenical pilgrimage to Rome, Constantinople, and Nicea.

By Christopher Wells

A joint Orthodox-Catholic pilgrimage to Rome, Constantinople, and Nicea “is one of the abundant fruits of the ecumenical movement aimed at restoring full unity among all Christ’s disciples,” Pope Leo XIV told participants in the pilgrimage on Thursday, as he welcomed them to the papal summer residence at Castel Gandolfo.

The pilgrimage “From Rome to New Rome” comprises fifty Greek Orthodox, Byzantine Catholic, and Latin Catholic pilgrims from the United States, and is being led by the Greek Orthodox Archbishop Elpidophoros of America and Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Archbishop of Newark, New Jersey.

In his greetings, Pope Leo noted that the pilgrimage is intended “to return to the sources”: to Rome, where Sts Peter and Paul were martyred; Constantinople—now Istanbul—associated with St Andrew; and to Nicea, the site of the first Ecumenical Council 1700 years ago this year.

The Pope went on to highlight the common celebration of Easter in 2025, observed on the same date by those who follow both the Gregorian and Julian liturgical calendars, which allowed all Christians to proclaim together the Easter Alleluia, “Christ is risen! He is truly risen!”

Those words, Pope Leo XIV said, proclaim the passion and resurrection of Jesus, “the Lamb that was slain” to redeem us from “the darkness of sin and death.” The redemption won by Christ “inspires us with great hope” while also calling us “to be witnesses and bearers of hope,” recalling the motto of the Jubilee Year, pilgrims of hope.

“It is my hope that your pilgrimage will confirm all of you in the hope born of our faith in the Risen Lord!” Pope Leo said.

Looking ahead to the group’s visit to Constantinople, the Pope asked the pilgrims to convey his greetings to the Patriarch Bartholomew, saying he hoped to meet him again in person during the ecumenical commemoration of the anniversary of the Council of Nicea.

The Holy Father went on to describe the group’s ecumenical pilgrimage as one of the many signs that “already manifest the theological progress and the dialogue of charity that mark recent decades,” especially since the Joint Declaration of Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras removing the mutual excommunications that followed the break in relations between Rome and Constantinople in 1054.

“For our part,” the Pope said, “we too must continue to implore from the Paraclete, the Consoler, the grace to pursue the path of unity and fraternal charity.” Looking ahead to the two-thousandth anniversary of the Redemption, Pope Leo said, “Spiritually, we must all return to Jerusalem, the City of Peace,” where the Apostles received the Holy Spirit before going on to bear witness to Christ “to the ends of the earth.”

Pope Leo concluded his address with the prayer, “May our return to the roots of our faith make all of us experience the gift of God’s consolation and make us capable, like the Good Samaritan, of pouring out the oil of consolation and the wine of gladness on today’s humanity.”