On June 29, 2025, while the San Pietro Square explodes of the colors of the infioral tribute to the new Pope, the first feast of the patrons of Rome Peter and Paul is celebrated with Leo XIV on the Soglio di Pietro.
“The story of these two apostles”, the Pope made his homily in his homily, “we also appeal to us, community of the disciples of the pilgrim Lord in this time. In particular, looking at their testimony, I would like to underline two aspects: ecclesial communion and the vitality of faith. First of all, ecclesial communion. The liturgy of this solemnity, in fact, shows us how Peter and Paul have been called to live a single destiny, that of martyrdom, which has associated them definitively with Christ. In the first reading we find Pietro who, in prison, wait for the sentence to be performed; In the second, the apostle Paul, also in the chains, in a sort of testament states that his blood is about to be scattered and offered to God. Both Peter and Paul, therefore, give their lives for the cause of the Gospel. However, This communion in the only confession of faith is not a peaceful conquest. The two apostles reach it as a milestone to which they land after a long journey, in which everyone embraced the faith and lived the apostolate in a different way. Their fraternity in the spirit does not cancel the diversity from which they started: Simone was a fisherman from Galilee, instead he knows a rigorous intellectual belonging to the Pharisees party; The first immediately leaves everything to follow the Lord; The second pursues Christians until it is transformed by the Risen Christ; Pietro preaches above all to the Jews; Paolo is pushed to bring good news to the people. Between the two, as we know, there was no shortage of conflicts about the relationship with the pagans, to the point that Paolo says: “When Cefa came to Antioch, I opposed him with an open face because he was wrong”. And of this question, as we know, the Council of Jerusalem will deal, in which the two apostles will still confront ».
«Dear, The story of Peter and Paul teaches us that the communion to which the Lord calls us is a harmony of voices and faces and does not cancel everyone’s freedom. Our patrons have traveled different paths, they had different ideas, sometimes they confronted and clashed with evangelical frankness. Yet this did not prevent them from living the concordia apostolorum, that is, a lively communion in the spirit, a fruitful harmony in diversity. As Sant’Agostino says, “a single day is consecrated to the feast of the two apostles. But they too were one. Although they were martyred on different days, they were one “
“All this,” said the Pope, “questions us on the path of ecclesial communion. It arises from the impulse of the spirit, combines diversity and creates bridges of unity in the variety of charisms, gifts and ministries. It is important to learn to live communion in this way, as unity in diversity, because the variety of gifts, connected in the confession of the only faith, contributes to the announcement of the Gospel. On this road we are called to walk, just looking at Pietro and Paolo, because we all need this fraternity. The Church needs it, the relationships between lay people and presbyters, between the presbyters and bishops, between the bishops and the Pope need it; Just as they need pastoral life, the ecumenical dialogue and the relationship of friendship that the Church wishes to entertain with the world. Let’s commit to making our diversity a laboratory of unity and communion, fraternity and reconciliation because each in the Church, with their own personal history, learn to walk together with the others. The saints Peter and Paul also question us on the vitality of our faith. In the experience of the disciple, in fact, There is always the risk of falling into habit, ritualism, in pastoral schemes that repeat themselves without renewing and without capturing the challenges of the present. In the history of the two apostles, however, it inspires us to open up to changes, to let themselves be questioned by the events, meetings and concrete situations of the communities, to seek new ways for evangelization starting from the problems and questions posed by the brothers and sisters in faith. And at the center of the Gospel we listened to there is precisely the question that Jesus asks to his disciples, and which also addresses to us today, because we can discern if the path of our faith preserves dynamism and vitality, if the flame of the relationship with the Lord is still on: “But you, who say that I am? 2.
«Every day, at every hour of history, we must always pay attention to this question. If we do not want our Christian being reduced to a legacy of the past, As Pope Francis has warned us many times, it is important to get out of the risk of a tired and static faith, to ask us: who is today for us Jesus Christ? What place does it deal with in our life and in the action of the Church? How can we witness this hope in everyday life and announce it to those we meet? Brothers and sisters, the exercise of discernment, which arises from these questions, allows our faith and the Church to continually renew itself and to experiment with new ways and new practices for the announcement of the Gospel. This, together with communion, must be our first desire. In particular, today I would like to turn to the Church which is in Rome, because more of all it is called to become a sign of unity and communion, a burning church of a lively faith, a community of disciples who testify to the joy and consolation of the Gospel in all human situations. In the joy of this communion, that the path of the saints Peter and Paul invites us to cultivate, greet the archbishop’s brothers who today receive the pallium. Dear, this sign, while recalling the pastoral task that is entrusted to you, expresses communion with the bishop of Rome, because in the unity of the Catholic faith, each of you can feed it in the local churches entrusted to you. I then wish to greet the members of the Synod of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church: thanks for your presence here and for your pastoral zeal. The Lord give peace to your people! And with lively gratitude I greet the delegation of the ecumenical patriarchate, sent here by the dear brother his holiness Bartolomeo “.
