A delegation of Peruvian bishops greets Pope Leo XIV, inviting him to visit Peru, during an audience on June 30, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Peruvian Episcopal Conference

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 1, 2025 / 15:47 pm (CNA).

The Peruvian bishops have officially invited Pope Leo XIV to visit Peru, assuring him that “his presence will renew the hope of our people.”

According to a statement from the Peruvian Bishops’ Conference (CEP, by its Spanish acronym), a delegation of bishops, including the conference president, Bishop Carlos García Camader of Lurín, met with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on June 30.

During the audience, “the bishops extended an official invitation to him to make a pastoral visit to Peru,” the CEP stated.

Leo XIV, born in Chicago as Robert Francis Prevost in 1955, lived in Peru for nearly 20 years, serving at different times in various capacities from parochial vicar of Chulucanas in the Piura region to bishop of Chiclayo. He became a Peruvian citizen in 2015.

Greeting the crowd in St. Peter’s Square after he was elected on May 8, Pope Leo XIV addressed a few words to his beloved Diocese of Chiclayo, “where a faithful people accompanied their bishop, shared their faith, and gave so, so much, to continue being the faithful Church of Jesus Christ.”

His missionary work in Peru was featured in the documentary recently released by the Vatican titled “León de Perú.”

According to the CEP, García Camader delivered a letter to the pope on June 30, expressing “on behalf of all the bishops and the Peruvian people, our profound affection for and closeness to the Holy Father” while thanking him for holding a special place in his heart for Peru.

The Peruvian delegation consisted of Bishop Luis Alberto Barrera, Bishop Antonio Santarsiero, Cardinal Pedro Barreto, Archbishop Alfredo Vizcarra, Bishop Pedro Bustamante, Bishop Marco Cortez, Bishop César Huerta, Bishop Ricardo García, Bishop Lizardo Estrada, Bishop Raúl Chau, Bishop Juan Asqui, and Father Guillermo Inca.

In an excerpt from the letter, the president of the CEP assured Leo XIV that “your presence will renew the hope of our people, strengthen the faith of our communities, and be a beautiful sign of communion with the universal Church.”

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

Pope Leo XIV smiles and waves to a group of nuns during an audience with women religious on June 30, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican Media

ACI Prensa Staff, Jul 1, 2025 / 15:17 pm (CNA).

During an audience on Monday of religious sisters belonging to several orders, Pope Leo XIV told the group that rootedness in Christ allows them to “do things they perhaps never thought they could achieve.”

The Sisters of the Order of St. Basil the Great, the Daughters of Divine Charity, the Augustinian Sisters of the Shelter, and the Franciscan Sisters of the Sacred Hearts came to the Vatican on June 30 for their general chapters and the Jubilee of Hope.

After praising the diversity of charisms and recalling the “great historical witnesses to the spiritual life” that inspired their foundation — such as St. Augustine, St. Basil, and St. Francis — the pontiff thanked the religious sisters for their service, especially to the weakest members of society.

He also emphasized that “the challenges of the past and the vitality of your present make clear that fidelity to the ancient wisdom of the Gospel is the best way forward for those who, led by the Holy Spirit, undertake new paths of self-giving, dedicated to loving God and neighbor and listening attentively to the signs of the times.”

The pope then recalled the words of St. Augustine: “God is your everything. If you are hungry, God is your bread; if you are thirsty, God is your water; if you are in darkness, God is your light that never fades; if you are naked, God is your everlasting garment.”

He then addressed the following questions to the religious: “To what extent are these words true for me? How much does the Lord satisfy my thirst for life, love, or light?”

For the Holy Father, this “rootedness in Christ” is what has led those who have gone before us “to do things they perhaps never thought they could achieve. This rootedness enabled them to sow seeds of goodness that, enduring throughout the centuries and across continents, have now reached practically the entire world, as your presence here demonstrates.”

The pontiff recalled the words of St. Paul to the Christians of Ephesus, praying that “Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph 3:17-19).

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

Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo, president of the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar. / Credit: François-Régis Salefran CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED

Vatican City, Jul 1, 2025 / 14:47 pm (CNA).

The leader of Africa’s Catholic bishops pushed back Tuesday on the narrative that it was only Africans who objected to a 2023 Vatican declaration permitting blessings for same-sex couples.

“The position taken by Africa [on the declaration] was also the position of so many bishops here in Europe. It’s not just an African exception,” Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu, OFM Cap, told EWTN News on July 1.

The 65-year-old cardinal added that homosexuality is fundamentally a “doctrinal, theological problem,” and Church moral teaching on the subject has not changed.

Ambongo is archbishop of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo and heads the Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM).

After the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) published Fiducia Supplicans on Dec. 18, 2023, Ambongo flew to Rome, where he met with Pope Francis to convey the dismayed reactions of the bishops in Africa to the declaration, which permitted nonliturgical blessings of same-sex couples.

According to Ambongo, he worked with the head of the DDF, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, and with Pope Francis to produce a statement that the permission for same-sex blessings did not apply in Africa. The Jan. 11, 2024, statement from SECAM quoted the Bible’s prohibitions of homosexual acts and called same-sex unions “intrinsically corrupt.”

On Jan. 4, 2024, the DDF had issued a statement acknowledging that pastoral contexts in different countries could require a slower reception of the declaration.

Later in January 2024, Pope Francis defended the declaration and called the Church in Africa “a separate case.” In an interview with Italian newspaper La Stampa, Francis said: “For [Africans], homosexuality is something ‘ugly’ from a cultural point of view; they do not tolerate it.”

Ambongo, who spoke to EWTN News after a Vatican press conference to present a document on climate justice and ecological conversion, said that Africa “experienced [Fiducia Supplicans] as something that was being imposed from outside on a people that has other priorities.”

“The pastoral priority for us is not a problem of gay people, it’s not a problem of homosexuality. For us, the pastoral priority is life: How to live, how to survive,” he added. Themes such as homosexuality “are for you here in Europe, not for us in Africa.”

The cardinal, who was a member of Pope Francis’ advisory Council of Cardinals — sometimes referred to as the “C9” because for most of its history it consisted of nine cardinals — said he does not know if Pope Leo XIV will form a similar group to advise the pope.

Ambongo said during pre-conclave meetings, cardinals expressed a desire for the pope to value the input of the entire College of Cardinals, possibly even holding annual meetings. “But this small group that could also help the pope, that depends on him,” he said.

Bishop Hilario González meets Pope Leo XIV during his June 23–27, 2025, visit to Rome. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jul 1, 2025 / 08:00 am (CNA).

Hilario González García, the bishop of Saltillo, Mexico, since 2021, recently made the pilgrimage to Rome for the Jubilee of Seminarians, Bishops, and Priests held June 23–27. The prelate shared the highlights of his visit to the Eternal CIty and in particular the reasons why, despite the risks, it’s worthwhile to be a priest in his country.

During the last 30 years, at least 80 priests have been murdered in Mexico, making the nation one of the most dangerous in the world for exercising priestly ministry. Speaking with ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner, González responded with hope to this painful reality.

‘We must not be afraid to give our lives for Christ’

“Mexico is the country where good priests are happy giving their lives for Christ and for his Church,” González said.

He also emphasized that the priestly vocation, even in difficult contexts, allows a priest to offer the best of himself: “This is much more valuable than any human, economic, or sociopolitical project, because it opens horizons of fulfillment and overcomes the selfish and arrogant tendency that the world proposes today.”

In this context, he encouraged those who feel called to the priesthood to respond with generosity: “I invite those who feel called to be honest and transparent in their aspirations, and, trusting in the grace and mercy of the Lord, to take the first step of their vocational journey by saying ‘yes’ to the invitation of Jesus.”

“You shouldn’t be afraid of giving your life for Christ nor be afraid of offering it in priestly service,” he emphasized.

Meetings with Pope Leo XIV

The prelate recounted to ACI Prensa the details of his “edifying” experience in Rome, which served to “strengthen and encourage the spiritual bond” as well as an opportunity to give thanks for the “gift of life, of the priestly vocation, and of the episcopal ministry.”

Coinciding with his 60th birthday, the 30th anniversary of his priestly ordination, and the 10th anniversary of his episcopal ministry, the Mexican bishop traveled “as a pilgrim” to the Eternal City.

Throughout the week, González was able to hear Pope Leo XIV on four occasions. The first was during the meeting with the seminarians, which reminded him of his service as a formator and the “great responsibility involved in accompanying candidates in their initial formation process.”

He also participated in the audience with the bishops. He was particularly moved by the Holy Father’s address, which included “the invitation to be men of theological life” and to “remain firm in the faith, convinced of God’s help so as not to lose hope and thus encourage others in times of trial,” González told ACI Prensa.

Regarding the International Vocational Meeting, he emphasized the importance of the pope’s call “to be more purposeful, with the witness of a life happily given over” to the Lord. Regarding the Mass that Leo XIV celebrated on the solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 27, during which he ordained 32 priests, the bishop of Saltillo emphasized Pope Leo’s invitation to “fulfill the promises we made on the day of our ordination.”

Commenting on Pope Leo’s words on celibacy, which during his address to the bishops the pontiff said is more than living a celibate life, González emphasized that it is not merely “a discipline or rule” or “a superhuman effort” but rather “a supernatural gift to pray for, accept, and cultivate, and a response that frees us to serve with the joy that springs from a heart that knows it is deeply loved.”

“For me, this means that I have to ‘put more effort’ into my consecration to the Lord, be more humble and transparent in my interpersonal relationships, and continue to bind myself with ever greater dedication and joy to the heart of Jesus,” he added.

Combatting abuse in the Church

During the meeting with the bishops, Pope Leo XIV also encouraged them to be “firm and decisive” in addressing abuse. The Mexican prelate stated that the bishops in his country are faithfully carrying out these instructions “to protect minors and to prevent such behavior from occurring.”

Each diocese in Mexico, according to the bishop of Saltillo, provides “human and institutional resources to ensure safe environments in our communities.”

He also highlighted the importance of the proper formation of seminarians and priests as well as those in consecrated life and communities, “to respond honestly and seek to purify attitudes that go against the righteous living of Christian life in all areas.”

Challenges facing the Church 

The bishop noted that, in the Diocese of Saltillo, they are “trying to respond to the challenge of selfish individualism” that prevents people’s hearts “from loving and serving generously, which withers interpersonal relationships, thus weakening the fabric of community and society.”

He also emphasized that they are “in tune with the synodal experience” and are working to “recover the identity and joy of the filial experience with God.”

“We see the social consequences of individualism in the disintegration of people (through abandonment, vices, addictions, loss of personal and family life), in violence and cruelty in interpersonal relationships, and in indifference and selfishness in helping those in need. We try to take up these challenges with simplicity of heart and with God’s grace to help build his kingdom in our society,” he said.

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

Actor Jonathan Roumie, who portrays Jesus in “The Chosen.” / Credit: EWTN News/Colm Flynn/Screenshot

CNA Staff, Jul 1, 2025 / 06:00 am (CNA).

When Jonathan Roumie, the actor who plays Jesus in “The Chosen,” heard the news of the election of an American-born pope, he said he wept “because I just never thought I would ever live to see the day.” 

Two months later, on June 25, Roumie had the opportunity to meet the new Holy Father during a papal general audience while the actor was in Italy filming the crucifixion scenes for Season 6 of the popular show.

Roumie sat down with EWTN News correspondent Colm Flynn for an interview just hours after meeting Pope Leo XIV to talk about playing Jesus in “The Chosen” as well as what is was like to meet the pope for the first time.

“It was fantastic,” Roumie told Flynn. “He was so kind and so gracious and generous with his time.”

Despite the meeting being a bit of a “blur,” Roumie recalled telling the Holy Father that he was “humbled to be there and it was great to meet him.”

Pope Leo told Roumie that while one of his brothers is a fan of the show, he himself hasn’t seen it yet, to which Roumie replied: “Well, we brought some DVDs to help remedy that.”

Roumie met the late Pope Francis on two separate occasions during his pontificate. In each of those meetings, Roumie had prepared a message in Spanish to share with the pope but in this meeting, he was able to communicate in his own language. 

“When you know you can communicate with somebody in your own language, it makes all the difference,” he said, adding: “For instance, I mentioned — because Pope Leo is from Chicago — I said, you know it’s nice being able to throw out references like ‘Da Bulls’ and ‘Da Bears’ and him understand what I’m referencing.”

“There was just a kindness on his face and just a charity about him that just moved me,” Roumie said.

Speaking about his time filming the Crucifixion scenes in the historic town of Matera in northern Italy, Roumie said: “I’ve never done anything harder than that.”

He added: “The impact that it’s going to have on people — it’s going to be so huge and so life-changing for so many people … I think it’s just going to propagate the name of Jesus at a breakneck speed.”

Despite the many “beautiful moments,” Roumie also said he believes it will be “extremely hard for people” to watch.

“By that point we will have had five and a half seasons of knowing Jesus as our friend, as a miracle worker, as an intimate companion, a colleague, and a teacher, and a rabbi, and having spent 45 hours of story with him healthy and OK and then to see that rapidly decline in a singular season — it’s just going to be devastating.”

Surrendering to Christ amid a career of instability 

Roumie also shared with Flynn his story of surrender to Christ amid a career of instability.

The actor first began his career in New York, where he did voice-over work and commercials. He then moved to Los Angeles, where he had a plethora of jobs while trying to make into the entertainment industry, including driving ride share, food delivery, catering, and painting houses, just to be able to pay the bills. At one point, he found himself with only $20 and didn’t know where his next paycheck would be coming from. It was at this low point that he fully submitted his life and career over to God. 

“Once I committed my career to him and in doing so the entirety of my life, that’s when my life changed,” he shared. 

Three months later, he received the call from Dallas Jenkins, creator and director of “The Chosen,” asking him if he’d like to take part in a crowdfunded series about the life of Jesus and his disciples.

After filming the first four episodes of Season 1, the actor recalled feeling like they were creating something that was “uniquely special” but had no idea just how much success it was going to have.

Now having portrayed Jesus for more than five years, Roumie said he feels there is “always this striving to be more like him in order to be able to play him and being falteringly human — that can feel impossible at times, but I know that I’m here doing this for a reason and I’m just going to continue to give him everything that I have.”

“I’m going to do the best I can and make sure I’m exercising the sacraments and going to confession and receiving the Eucharist,” he added.

The impact of being seen as Jesus

During the interview with Flynn, Roumie also discussed the challenge of having people view him as Jesus. 

“So many people say to me, ‘You’re exactly what I would have pictured if I met Jesus,’” he said, “and so they impose or project that relationship that they have or those ideas or those expectations on a subconscious level, or maybe an even semiconscious level, onto me to an extent.”

When fans of the show start to call Roumie “Jesus,” he explained that he makes sure to say his own name to them “to remind them that there is a line of demarcation.”

He said these experiences also make him much more aware of “an implied level of accountability.”

“If I’m being held to the standards of Jesus, or being seen as somebody that is at least trying to live out those standards in their life, well, that’s great because it’s just better for me spiritually to be living in that manner,” he said.

However, it does make him think how fans might react to roles he takes beyond “The Chosen.” He did point out, however, that he wouldn’t do anything “that goes against my beliefs or anything like that or a character that just doesn’t sit right with me or that I don’t discern with the Lord before I commit to a project.”

Speaking to what has made him the most proud of being a part of “The Chosen,” the actor highlighted the “impact of the show and the reality of what it’s doing for people — the reality of how God is using it to encounter people.”

WASHINGTON – Pope Leo XIV has accepted the resignation of Most Reverend Thomas J. Rodi, 76, from the pastoral governance of the Archdiocese of Mobile, and has appointed Most Reverend Mark S. Rivituso, currently auxiliary bishop of Saint Louis, as his successor. 

The resignation and appointment were publicized in Washington, D.C. on July 1, 2025, by Cardinal Christophe Pierre, apostolic nuncio to the United States.

The Archdiocese of Mobile is comprised of 22,969 square miles in the State of Alabama and has a total population of 1,859,393 of which 107,870 are Catholic.

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Pope Leo XIV meets with the delegation of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople on June 28, 2025, at the Vatican. / Credit: Vatican News

ACI Prensa Staff, Jun 30, 2025 / 14:12 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV received members of a delegation from the Eastern Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate in a June 28 audience held at the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican in the context of the June 29 celebration of the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul.

The Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople is the seat of the Eastern Orthodox Church of Constantinople based in Istanbul, Turkey. The Ecumenical Patriarchate is considered “primus inter pares” (“first among equals”) among the patriarchs of the other churches of the Eastern Orthodox communion. 

The delegation was headed by Metropolitan Emmanuel of Chalcedon, president of the Synodal Commission of the Ecumenical Patriarchate for Relations with the Catholic Church, accompanied by the Most Reverend Fathers Aetios and Ieronymos.

Bartholomew has been the current archbishop of Constantinople and ecumenical patriarch since Nov. 2, 1991. Traditionally, a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate visits the Vatican on the occasion of the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul.

Similarly, a Vatican delegation usually visits Istanbul, the capital of present-day Turkey, every Nov. 30 on the occasion of the celebration of the feast day of St. Andrew, the Ecumenical Patriarchate’s patron saint.

Goal of full visible communion between the two Churches

The Catholic Encyclopedia explains that in 1054, “the most deplorable quarrel,” known as the Eastern Schism, occurred, separating the vast majority of Eastern Christians from communion with the Catholic Church, thus giving rise to the Orthodox Church.

Leo XIV stated that his intention is to “persevere in the effort to reestablish full visible communion between our Churches,” a goal that, he said, can only be achieved “with God’s help, through a continued commitment to respectful listening and fraternal dialogue.”

“For this reason, I am open to any suggestions that you may offer in this regard, always in consultation with my brother bishops of the Catholic Church who, each in his own way, share with me the responsibility for the complete and visible unity of the Church,” the Holy Father said during the June 28 audience.

He also recalled that “after centuries of disagreements and misunderstanding,” authentic dialogue between the two Churches was only possible thanks to “the courageous and farsighted steps taken by Pope Paul VI and Ecumenical Patriarch Athenagoras.”

“Their venerable successors to the sees of Rome and Constantinople have pursued with conviction the same path of reconciliation, thus further strengthening our close relations,” the pope added.

Leo XIV highlighted the “witness of sincere closeness” that Patriarch Bartholomew has always expressed to the Catholic Church, demonstrated especially by participating in the funeral of Pope Francis and later in the inaugural Mass of the new bishop of Rome.

The Holy Father said the traditional exchange of delegations “is a sign of the profound communion already existing between us, and a reflection of the fraternal bond that united the Apostles Peter and Andrew.”

Leo XIV expressed his profound gratitude for their presence in Rome “on this solemn occasion.” He asked them to convey his cordial greetings to Patriarch Bartholomew and the members of the Holy Synod, along with his gratitude for having sent the delegation again this year.

“May Sts. Peter and Paul, St. Andrew and the holy Mother of God, who live eternally in the perfect communion of the saints, accompany and sustain us in our efforts in the service of the Gospel. Thank you!” Pope Leo said. 

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

Pope Leo prays the Angelus at the Vatican on June 30, 2025. / Credit: Daniel Ibañez/CNA

Vatican City, Jun 30, 2025 / 12:24 pm (CNA).

Pope Leo XIV deplored the use of hunger as a “weapon of war” in his message to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which is currently holding its 44th conference session in Rome from June 28 to July 4. 

The Holy Father said the U.N. is far from reaching its 2030 goal of “zero hunger” in spite of “significant steps” taken by the intergovernmental organization to ensure food security, particularly for the world’s poor.

“We are currently witnessing with despair the iniquitous use of hunger as a weapon of war,” Leo said in his message to FAO. “Starving people to death is a very cheap way of waging war.”

The pope criticized the actions of armed civilians who “greedily hoard” food, burn land, steal livestock, and block humanitarian aid to those suffering and in need.  

“Farmers are unable to sell their produce in environments threatened by violence, and inflation soars,” he said. “This leads to huge numbers of people succumbing to the scourge of starvation and perishing.”

“While civilians languish in misery, political leaders grow fat on the profits of the conflict,” he remarked.

Highlighting the complex relationship between war, poverty, and hunger, the pope said the Holy See supports all initiatives aimed at bringing international leaders together to collaborate for “the common good of the family of nations.” 

“Without peace and stability, it will not be possible to guarantee resilient agricultural and food systems, nor to ensure a healthy, accessible, and sustainable food supply for all,” he added.

Continuing his calls for peace in war-torn areas since his May election as the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, Leo extended his call to the leadership and staff of FAO to become peacemakers in times of “huge polarization in international relations.”

“To ensure peace and development, understood as the improvement of the living conditions of populations suffering from hunger, war, and poverty, concrete actions are needed, rooted in serious and far-sighted approaches,” he continued. 

“I pray to almighty God that your work may bear fruit and be of benefit to the underprivileged and to humanity as a whole,” he said at the conclusion of his message.

In an Angelus address, Pope Leo highlighted the plight of rural Christian communities in Nigeria enduring violence and hunger. 

Approximately 200 displaced people were massacred at a Catholic mission there in June. 

Bishop Mark Nzukwein of the Diocese of Wukari, Nigeria, said more than 300,000 people are currently displaced in the northern part of the country, many of whom have lost their farms and livelihoods because of the violent attacks. 

“I’ve never had problems with food ever until recently,” Nzukwein told CNA in a June 27 interview. 

“[Men] will invade farms and kill … and make the place insecure,” he said. “This is the source of the food insecurity we’re experiencing in Nigeria.”

The “Hall of Constantine” is Raphael’s masterpiece, depicting Constantine’s victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge. / Credit: Vatican Media

Vatican City, Jun 30, 2025 / 07:00 am (CNA).

After a decade of painstaking restoration, the imposing Hall of Constantine in the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace, which houses Raphael’s masterpiece depicting Constantine’s victory over Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge, has been returned to its original splendor.

This space, the largest of the well-known Raphael Rooms, was partially closed to the public in 2015 due to delicate conservation work that ultimately culminated in a result described as “exemplary” by Vatican Museums.

“In a way, we have rewritten the history of art,” explained Barbara Jatta, director of the Vatican Museums, during a June 26 presentation to the press held at the Vatican Museums. She was joined by Fabrizio Biferali, supervisor of the art department for the 15th and 16th centuries; Fabio Piacentini and Francesca Persegati from the Painting and Wooden Materials Restoration Laboratory; and Fabio Morresi, head of the Scientific Research Office, who emphasized the scientific, technical, and symbolic value of a project that has brought to light revolutionary discoveries about the techniques and methods of the Renaissance master.

The restoration, which began in March 2015 and was completed in December 2024, has not only restored the brilliance of the frescoes that Pope Leo X commissioned Raphael Sanzio (1483–1520) to paint but also revealed important technical and artistic innovations concerning one of the great workshops of the Renaissance.

The process, carried out in eight phases, began with the wall of “The Vision of the Cross” and concluded with the vault decorated by Tommaso Laureti. The planning of the scaffolding followed the same sequence as the original execution of the paintings, allowing for a diachronic interpretation of the evolution of the complex.

Raphael and oil painting: A revolutionary discovery

One of the project’s greatest revelations has been the confirmation that two female figures — Comitas and Iustitia — were executed directly by Raphael in oil, an extremely unusual technique for murals at the time. “We knew from sources that Raphael did experiments, but we didn’t know which ones,” Jatta explained.

Thanks to scientific analyses such as infrared refractography at 1,900 nanometers, false-color ultraviolet light, and chemical studies of the paint layer, a special preparation of rosin, a natural resin heated and applied to the wall, was identified. This technique would have allowed Raphael to make retouchings and achieve a visual unity not possible with traditional fresco.

“This was his last major decorative undertaking and represents a true technical revolution,” said Piacentini, who was responsible for the restoration project from the outset. The presence of nails in the wall indicates that Raphael intended to paint the entire room in oils, a project interrupted by his untimely death in 1520 when he was only 37 years old.

The work was continued by his disciples Giulio Romano and Giovanni Francesco Penni, who painted the remaining fresco scenes. “It was a work of years, comparable to that of a team from the Renaissance: Restorers, chemists, engineers, and heritage experts worked as if in a true workshop,” emphasized Jatta, who also praised Persegati’s coordination in the Vatican’s oldest laboratory.

A 16th-century pictorial palimpsest

The Hall of Constantine, designed for official receptions and named after the emperor who granted freedom of worship and thus brought Christianity out from the underground with the Edict of Milan (A.D. 313), constitutes a kind of artistic palimpsest (an ancient tablet on which writing could be erased and rewritten). It was decorated over more than 60 years under five pontificates — from Leo X to Sixtus V — with work done by different artists and workshops, making it an exceptional synthesis of 16th-century Roman painting.

Its walls depict four key episodes: “The Vision of the Cross,” “The Battle of the Milvian Bridge,” “The Baptism of Constantine,” and “The Donation of Rome.” All of them symbolize the transition from pagan Rome to Christian Rome and constitute, according to Jatta, “the most politically and programmatically important room in the complex.”

A vault that deceives the eye

Another highlight of the project is the restoration of the vault painted with an allegorical scene of the triumph of Christianity over paganism by Tommaso Laureti during the pontificate of Sixtus V. Among the discoveries is the visual illusion of a carpet in the center of the vault, simulating a sumptuous fabric painted directly onto the ceiling’s surface.

Replacing the old wooden ceiling, Laureti created an impressive marvel of illusionistic perspective with plays of light and shadow that can now be admired in all its beauty after having been cleaned.

An exemplary restoration, a model for the future

The project was made possible thanks to the patronage of the New York chapter of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums and the Carlson Foundation, along with the institutional support of the presidency of the Governorate of Vatican City State and its general secretariat.

The work was fully documented through laser scans and 3D models, becoming an international reference for the restoration of large mural decorations. Furthermore, a detailed study of the plaster layers made it possible to reconstruct the exact chronology of the steps in making the frescoes.

Morresi of the Vatican Museums’ Scientific Research Office summed up the spirit of the project with words that evoke both science and poetry: “The most exciting thing is how artists of the past managed to transform matter and chemistry into something so marvelous.”

The reopening of the Hall of Constantine not only restores a key space in the Vatican museum but also returns to humanity a Renaissance masterpiece, a testament to Raphael’s genius.

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

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. 

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." 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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. 

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." 

"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."