For Archbishop Vásquez, papal encounter reflects the call to foster unity in Church and world

Pope Leo XIV presents the pallium to Archbishop Joe S. Vásquez during Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican June 29, the feast of Sts. Peter and Paul. The pallium symbolizes the archbishop’s authority and unity with the pope. (Photo by Lola Gomez/CNS)

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When Pope Leo XIV gave newly appointed metropolitan archbishops their pallium on the June 29 feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, he told them it symbolizes their responsibility to care for their people and to promote unity.

Kneeling before the Holy Father at the altar of St. Peter’s Basilica, Archbishop Joe S. Vásquez was among the 54 archbishops from around the world who received a pallium, a circular woolen band worn around the shoulders over Mass vestments that marks their position as a metropolitan archbishop. 

PHOTOS: Pallia a sign of unity with pope, Church

Appointed Archbishop of Galveston-Houston in January 2025, Archbishop Vásquez joined Archbishop Joseph A. Fiorenza and Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, who each also received their palliums in 2005 and 2006, respectively, after the diocese was named an Archdiocese in 2004. 

In his homily, Pope Leo told Archbishop Vásquez, who was joined by seven other U.S. archbishops at the Mass, “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. 

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.”

'A powerful feast'

Father Orrin Halepeska, pastor of Holy Rosary Parish in Rosenberg and St. Wenceslaus Mission in Beasley, was in Rome for an ecumenical and interreligious seminar with the Centro Pro Unione as part of his role as Archdiocesan officer for ecumenical and interreligious affairs.

Father Halepeska had a front row seat at St. Peter’s Basilica to the June 29 Mass, witnessing Archbishop Vásquez receive his pallium from the Holy Father.

According to Vatican News, the pallium was first worn only by the pope. The pope now gives one to metropolitan archbishops as a sign of their unity with him.

“It was an amazing experience to see Pope Leo give the pallium to our shepherd, Archbishop Vásquez,” Father Halepeska said from Rome. “On such a special and powerful feast of Sts. Peter and Paul, watching the movement of apostolic succession through the hands of Pope Leo lovingly giving the call of archbishop to Archbishop Vásquez.”

Seeing the special moment first-hand gave Father Halepeska time to reflect on the way the local Church and clergy can also pray for and support the Archdiocese’s newest ordinary.
“It makes me feel or realize that our call to be Church and to support Archbishop Vásquez is so much bigger and so important,” he said. 

Others from the Archdiocese who attended the Mass and met with Archbishop Vásquez to share their congratulations included Father John Rooney, pastor of St. Mary of the Expectation Parish in League City, as well as Ethan Sicking, an Archdiocesan seminarian studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

Fostering peace and unity

Speaking with Catholic News Service in Rome, Archbishop Vásquez was joined by other archbishops in reflecting on their role in helping foster peace and unity in the U.S. Church.

For Archbishop Vásquez, unity and diversity come 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 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 Edward J. Weisenburger of Detroit 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. 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.”