US Papal Nuncio Cardinal Pierre Tells Bishops "the Church in the United States can - be...a sign of hope that transcends division...grounded in the dignity of every human being." FULL TEXT
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His Eminence Cardinal Christophe Pierre, Apostolic Nuncio to the United States of America, delivered the following remarks at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, Maryland, on November 11, 2025:
I would like to begin, as I have often done before, by asking you a two-part
question that I believe remains essential for our discernment as pastors in this
moment of the Church’s life:
Where have we been, and where are we going?
In his new Apostolic Letter on education, Pope Leo asks the same question,
when he urges educational communities to “raise your eyes” and “know how to ask
yourselves where you are going, and why.”
1 This act of questioning—of examining
the direction of our journey—is an essential part of Christian discernment. It’s
something that every bishop must do when thinking about the Church entrusted to
his care, and it’s something that we must do in our shared journey as shepherds of
the Catholic Church in the United States.
Today, I would like to offer a reflection on this question by placing it under a
guiding light: the teaching and vision of the Second Vatican Council. I am convinced
that Vatican II remains the key to understanding what kind of Church we are called
to be today, and the reference point for discerning where we are headed.
Pope Leo also is convinced of this. Two days after his election, he told the
Cardinals: “I would like us to renew together today our complete commitment to the
path that the universal Church has now followed for decades in the wake of the
Second Vatican Council.” He then said that “Pope Francis masterfully and
concretely” set forth this path in Evangelii Gaudium—several points of which he
highlighted as fundamental to our ongoing ecclesial journey.
2 We know, of course, that Evangelii Gaudium was Francis’s way of expressing the teaching of Vatican II and applying it to the Church’s missionary mandate today. Leo clearly wants us to
continue in that direction.
Given the tremendous importance of education in the Church in the United
States, the recent publication of Drawing New Maps of Hope offers timely guidance.
Writing on the 60th anniversary of Gravissimum Educationis, Pope Leo situates
education “at the very heart of evangelization—the concrete way in which the
Gospel becomes an educational gesture, a relationship, a culture.” 3
With that same spirit of discernment, we now turn to the Council itself.
I. Vatican II as the Self-Description of the Church for Our Age
What was Vatican II? In the words of John Paul II and Benedict XVI, it was
“the great grace bestowed on the Church in the twentieth century.”4 The Council
offered us, not a new faith, but a new way of describing and living the one faith in
the modern world. As such, it is a reliable guide for ecclesial discernment in this time
of epochal change.
The documents of the Second Vatican Council gifted the Church with a map
for the journey ahead. Yet the territory that this map outlined was, in many ways,
uncharted. The vision of the Council was a vision for the future—a prophetic
orientation toward a world that was only beginning to take shape. When the Council
Fathers issued those texts, the churches were still full; the effects of secularization
had not yet become deeply visible. Many of the realities that the Council intuited
had not yet manifested themselves in the life of the world or of the Church.
For this reason, the Council’s documents were not fully understood in their
time. They were not a description of where the Church stood, but a map drawn for
the territory into which she was being sent. Today, that territory is our daily
experience. We now inhabit the world that the Council foresaw—a world marked by
profound cultural shifts, technological change, and a secularized mindset that 3
challenges faith at its roots. Now is the time to unfold the Council’s map and walk
its path—to rediscover in those texts the light and courage needed to navigate this
moment with fidelity and creativity.
From this perspective, the vision of the Council finds continuity in the
magisterium of all the popes since then, who call us to embody the missionary and
pastoral dynamism that Vatican II anticipated. Their pontificates are not a departure
from the conciliar spirit but its maturation—a reminder that renewal is always a work
of the Spirit, unfolding in time and responding to the concrete realities of the world
in which the Church lives and evangelizes.
II. From Francis to Leo XIV: Continuing the Council’s Path
When asked about a Third Vatican Council, Pope Francis replied that the time
is not ripe, because we are still laboring to fully implement the Second. His
pontificate was marked, not by innovation for its own sake, but by a call to live more
fully the vision of the Council. Evangelii Gaudium and Fratelli Tutti both reflect that
vision: a missionary Church, joyful and outward-looking, a community that builds
fraternity in a divided world. Again and again, he warned against turning the Gospel
into ideology or letting partisanship eclipse communion. Francis called the Church
to speak with a single evangelical voice—prophetic, merciful, and united in service
to the poor.
We have now walked together through another pivotal moment: the transition
from Francis to Leo XIV. Even if some may be inclined to pursue paths that turn
aside from the pastoral vision of Pope Francis, we know that the way forward is not
to diverge, but to advance along the road he helped to illuminate—a road on which
Pope Leo continues to lead us. Many believers have been encouraged, by the witness
of Francis, to live the Gospel in greater simplicity, mercy, and openness. And Leo,
by carrying forward and expanding upon the magisterium of his predecessor, is
helping us to keep walking as the “pilgrim Church” which Lumen Gentium
described. 4
As the 20th century approached, Pope Leo XIII gave the Church Rerum
Novarum, which equipped her with the language and vision to confront the
challenges of the industrial age. Now, as the 21st century unfolds, the new Leo seeks
to guide us through equally profound transformations—technological, cultural, and
moral.
In his first Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi Te, which Francis had begun, the Holy
Father’s reference point continues to be Vatican II, this time as it addresses our
mission among the poor. Recalling Pope Paul VI who said that “the ancient parable
of the Good Samaritan served as the model for the Council’s spirituality,” Leo writes:
“I am convinced that the preferential choice for the poor is a source of extraordinary
renewal both for the Church and for society.”5 He says that “The Second Vatican
Council represented a milestone in the Church’s understanding of the poor in God’s
saving plan.”6
And here is a man who knows what it means to serve the poor!
Just as Leo XIII responded to the upheavals of his time by grounding the
Church in her perennial teaching while addressing new realities, so the present Pope
Leo is anchoring us in Vatican II’s vision in order to face the challenges of
globalization, technological transformation, cultural shifts, and ecological crisis.
III. Drawing New Maps of Hope — Education and Ecclesial Renewal
The Second Vatican Council continues to guide our journey as a Church. Its
teaching on worship, the mystery of the Church, the Word of God, and dialogue with
the world converge in one vision: a Church rooted in faith, animated by hope, and
engaged with humanity through love.
Within this horizon, Pope Leo XIV’s Drawing New Maps of Hope takes on
special significance. Issued on the 60th anniversary of Gravissimum Educationis, it
recalls that education belongs to the very heart of evangelization: “it is the concrete
way in which the Gospel becomes an educational gesture, a relationship, a culture.”7
Leo uses the image of an “educational constellation”: a living network of schools
and universities, movements and institutes, lay associations and religious
congregations, national and international partnerships. “Each ‘star’ [in this
constellation] has its own brightness, but together they chart a course.”8
It is this convergence, this unity-in-diversity of institutions and charisms, that gives Catholic
education its prophetic strength and broad reach within society.
Gravissimum Educationis remains a sure guide. It affirmed the right of every
person to an education ordered to truth and dignity, the role of parents as first
educators, and the inseparable bond between faith and reason in forming the whole
person. Pope Leo now develops that heritage, urging educational communities to be
builders of bridges, not walls—allowing reconciliation and peace-making to become
“the method and content of learning.”9 He urges educational communities, not just
to impart skills, but to heal relationships, form consciences, and choose not what is
convenient but what is just. He calls these educational constellations a “luminous
design that guides our steps in the darkness of the present time.” 10
For the Church in the United States, this vision renews our dedication to
formation in all its dimensions: to families as first educators; to schools that are both
strong and accessible; to universities that serve culture through “an inclusive outlook
and attention to the heart”; and to policies that protect the poor—since, as the Holy
Father reminds us, “‘losing the poor’ is equivalent to losing the school itself.”11
For more than a century before the Second Vatican Council, parish schools,
academies, and universities had formed generations in faith and civic virtue, helping
immigrant families take root and contribute to the life of the nation. Catholic
education remains one of the great “success stories”—and enduring strengths—of
the Church in the United States. Yet even at its height, when Catholic identity was
strong and enrollment robust, the Church stood on the threshold of change. Vatican II did not create this educational mission, but it gave it a new horizon: calling
Catholic education to look outward, to engage a rapidly changing world, and to form
disciples ready to bring the Gospel into new cultural and social contexts. The true
vitality of Catholic education—its ability to bear lasting fruit for the Gospel—
depends on how deeply it embodies the vision of Vatican II, discerning the signs of
the times and renewing its methods and structures in fidelity to the Gospel. Where
that vision is received and lived, Catholic education continues to be a radiant witness
of evangelizing hope; where it is neglected or narrowed, the light grows dim.
Catholic education thus offers a window into the wider story of how the
Council’s teaching has been received across the Church in this country. The vitality
of the lay apostolate—in education, in social service, in public life—is one sign of
that legacy. Parish life, charitable outreach, and countless apostolic works have
flourished as the faithful embrace their baptismal vocation. Yet this vitality bears its
truest fruit only when it remains rooted in communion with those ordained to
shepherd the Church and carried out in the synodal spirit of collaboration, not
substitution.
At the same time, the Council’s call to unity challenges us to resist the
divisions that fracture our witness. Polarization too often allows Catholics—even
within the same parish or family—to identify more with tribes or ideologies than
with the Body of Christ. The synodal path invites us to a different way: a style of
being Church that makes communion concrete, allows dialogue to become
discernment, and catholicity to become shared mission.
If we embrace this full inheritance of Vatican II—the educational, pastoral,
and social dimensions alike—the Church in the United States can continue to be
what she has so often been: a leaven within this nation, a sign of hope that transcends
division, and a servant of the common good grounded in the dignity of every human
being.
V. A Call to Represent the Church of the Council
Having received so much from the Council’s vision, the question now
becomes: what does that ask of us as bishops? How are we to represent the Church
the Council described?
It touches every aspect of our ministry.
• In our priesthood and episcopal vocation, we are called to be men of
communion—pastors who walk with the People of God rather than standing
apart.
• In evangelization and ecumenism, we must avoid both ideological narrowing
and vague generality, proclaiming the whole Gospel with clarity and love.
• In our engagement with public life, we are not chaplains to parties or distant
commentators, but shepherds who bring the breadth of Catholic social
teaching into civic discourse in a way that transcends partisanship.
And we must never forget the call Pope Leo XIV places at the heart of Dilexi
Te: to renew our saving relationship with the poor, whose poverty takes many
forms—migrants seeking dignity, victims of human trafficking and abuse, families
denied a fair chance to improve their lives. To be faithful to Vatican II is to be the
Church of Christ among—and with—these brothers and sisters.
Conclusion: Where Have We Been, and Where Are We Going?
The Council is not behind us; it stands before us, the map for our journey.
To the questions with which we began—Where have we been, and where are we
going?—the deepest ecclesial answer is this:
• We are a Church rooted in the grace of the Second Vatican Council;
• a Church still receiving and embodying its vision;
• a Church sent forth in unity, as disciples and shepherds, bringing hope, joy,
and mercy to a world in need.
The Council’s documents continue to form us and guide our discernment of
this moment. Pope Leo XIV now carries that same vision forward, interpreting it
anew for the world of today.
If we walk faithfully with him, we will be the Church the Council envisioned:
a pilgrim people, a sacrament of communion, a beacon of hope, and a servant of the
poor—drawing, even now, new maps of hope for the generations to come.
Thank you.
End Notes:
1 Pope Leo XIV, Apostolic Letter Drawing New Maps of Hope on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the
Conciliar Declaration Gravissimum educationis, 27 October 2025, §11.2.
2 Pope Leo XIV, Address to the College of Cardinals, 10 May 2025.
3 Drawing New Maps of Hope, §1.1.
4 Pope St. John Paul II, Apostolic Letter Novo Millennio Ineunte at the Close of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, 6 January 2001, §57; Pope Benedict XVI, Apostolic Letter “Motu Proprio Data” Porta Fidei for the Indiction of the
Year of Faith, 11 October 2011, §5. Emphasis original.
5 Pope Leo XIV, Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi Te to All Christians on Love for the Poor, 4 October 2025, §7.
6 Ibid., §84.
7 Drawing New Maps of Hope, §1.1.
8 Ibid., §8.1.
9 Ibid., §10.3.
10 Ibid., §10.2.
11 Ibid., §10.4.
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