Pope Leo XIV receives an Orthodox-Catholic pilgrimage from the United States

On 17 July 2025, the Holy Father received at the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo the participants in an Orthodox-Catholic ecumenical pilgrimage from the United States of America, led by Metropolitan Elpidophoros, Archbishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, and Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Archbishop of Newark.

After recalling the anniversary of the Council of Nicaea and the Jubilee Year of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV emphasised in his address the importance of “signs of sharing and fellowship that, albeit not yet signifying full unity, already manifest the theological progress and the dialogue of charity that have marked recent decades”. The Holy Father referred in particular to the joint declaration of 7 December 1965, in which Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras lifted the excommunications of 1054.

The Holy Father also mentioned the year 2033, which will mark “another fundamental celebration for all Christians,’ when the two thousandth anniversary of the Redemption accomplished by the passion, death and resurrection of Christ will be celebrated.

Also present at the audience was Archbishop Flavio Pace, Secretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity.

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