Cardinal Tobin joins Redemptorist bishops in Rome for Jubilee
Redemptorist bishops gathered in Rome this week as the Jubilee of Bishops began in Rome. Their meeting was organized by the General Government of the Redemptorist congregation. As part of their time together, the bishops made a pilgrimage to visit the tomb of the founder of their congregation.
On June 24, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, joined Cardinal Mykola Bychok, C.Ss.R., Eparch of the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic Church in Australia and Oceania, and 28 other Redemptorist bishops on a pilgrimage to the town of Pagani, near Naples. They visited the Basilica of Saint Alphonsus Liguori, the founder of the Redemptorists, who devoted his life to serving the poor. After concelebrating Holy Mass at the basilica, the bishops prayed at the saint’s tomb.
During his homily, Monsignor Antonio De Luca, C.Ss.R., Bishop of Torre del Greco, Italy, said that Saint Alphonsus was an example of true holiness. “Like John the Baptist, [Saint Alphonsus] can be identified as one who points to the Master – never seeking to replace him, for that would be a betrayal of the apostolic mission,” the bishop said.
Monsignor De Luca continued:
“The Church itself, in its missionary nature, is like the finger pointing toward Christ. It lives its mission in relation to Him, proclaims the Gospel to humanity, promotes the dignity of the human person, proposes values born of faith, sacrifices the lives of the faithful through the sacraments, and marks time through fidelity to the Word – until the Lord’s return.
This is also the calling of every Redemptorist who, as a disciple of Christ, is chosen and sent to “follow the example of our Savior Jesus Christ in preaching the divine word to the poor, as he himself said: He has sent me to bring good news to the poor (Redemptorist Constitutions, 1).”
Monsignor De Luca also encouraged his brother bishops to live in obedient trust to God’s will and to remain close to the poor, as Saint Alphonsus had after he reluctantly agreed to become a bishop in 1762.
Men of hope called to serve the poor and forgotten
The group of Redemptorist bishops then returned to Rome, where they celebrated the Jubilee of Bishops on June 25. Joining more than 400 bishops from 38 countries, they passed through the Holy Door of Saint Peter’s Basilica and concelebrated a Mass presided over by Cardinal Marc Ouellet, retired prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery of Bishops.
Pope Leo XIV later addressed the bishops, calling on them to be men of hope. “At times, preaching the message that hope does not disappoint means swimming against the tide, even in certain painful situations that appear to be hopeless,” the pope said. “Yet it is precisely at those times when it becomes all the more apparent that our faith and our hope do not come from ourselves, but from God.”
The next day, the Holy Father held a private audience for the Redemptorist bishops, including Cardinal Tobin, and a group of Scalabrinian bishops. That congregation was founded in 1887 to minister to immigrants and refugees.
In his remarks, Pope Leo XIV encouraged the bishops to “bring into your ministry the legacy of two important charisms, especially in our days: service to migrants and evangelization of the poor and the distant.”
The pope pointed out that the founders of both the Redemptorists and Scalabrinians had become bishops who responded to “challenges of social and economic systems which on the one hand opened new frontiers at various levels, but on the other left behind a great deal of unheeded misery and many problems…”
Only by listening to “the love of God” will today’s bishop be able to embrace the “great opportunities” and many challenges presented by this historic moment, the pope said.
Featured image: A group of 30 Redemptorist bishops, including Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin, C.Ss.R., Archbishop of Newark, made a pilgrimage to the Basilica of Saint Alphonsus Ligouri in Pagani, Italy on June 24, 2025. (Photos by C.Ss.R – Redemptorists Italiano | Facebook)
