Pope Leo: Saints Peter and Paul show us how to build unity and serve the truth
June 29, 2026
Saints Peter and Paul can help us understand how to be “apostles and builders of unity, and generous servants of the truth in charity,” Pope Leo XIV preached at Mass this morning in St. Peter’s Basilica (booklet, video).
Pope Leo made his remarks on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, a holy day of obligation in the universal Church, except in places such as the United States where the obligation has been suppressed or the feast transferred (Canon 1246). During the Mass, Pope Leo conferred pallia on metropolitan archbishops appointed during the past year.
“The mission entrusted by the Lord to Peter and his Successors for the benefit of the entire holy People of God” is “a mission to listen, with his help, to the voice of each person; to discern inspirations; to guide the way; to correct errors; to instruct, encourage, exhort and accompany our brothers and sisters so that, docile to the action of the same Spirit, they may cooperate in the salvation of one another and of all humanity,” Pope Leo said. “Moreover, Peter’s example is an invitation to every Christian to become a builder of unity, placing God at the center of one’s life and drawing close to one’s brothers and sisters, attentive to their circumstances and needs.”
“In this way, we learn to live with one another in charity, so that the message might be fully proclaimed,” the Pope continued. ““This is also the teaching of Paul, the other great apostle we celebrate today and the tireless herald of the Good News.”
“Dear friends, it is important for us today to look to these two Saints—Peter and Paul—to understand how we, in turn, can be apostles and builders of unity, and generous servants of the truth in charity,” Pope Leo added, concluding:
Let us pray to Saints Peter and Paul that they may sustain us on our journey of communion in the footsteps of the Savior. This is the path he has laid out for us, the very thing for which he prayed to the Father at the Last Supper (cf. Jn 17:21–23), and the goal toward which he has taught us to aspire with confident hope.
The Pontiff celebrated the Mass in Latin, with vernacular readings and intercessions, and an Italian hymn along with the Latin chants.
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