Bishop Denis’ Homily from Chrism Mass 2026

Introduction:

The Chrism Mass is our evening of the Oils – the blessing of Oil of Catechumen, the blessing of the Oil of the Sick, and the consecration of the Oil of Chrism. It is the evening when Priestly Promises are renewed and priests, collaborating with their lay brothers and sisters, are encouraged, supported, and affirmed in their ministry.

From wherever you have travelled from this night to our Cathedral, know that you are very welcome. As the front cover of your booklet reads: ‘Fifty-Six Parishes, Three Deaneries and Eleven Pastoral Areas: Gathered as One Family in Faith’ …

… and so, as that family of faith in this Holy of Weeks, on this sacred night let us acknowledge our sins, and so, prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries …

Homily:

There is a familiarity around Luke’s gospel text for this Mass of Chrism. We have heard it before. This is not our first Chrism Mass. And yet every time we hear the text from St. Luke there is freshness and an urgency that is a stimulus to action: “the spirt of the Lord has been given to me, for he has anointed me. He has sent me to bring good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to captives and to the blind new sight …”[1]. All of us here this Chrism night have been anointed, we are called in our many different callings to live out that anointing.  

The oils that are blessed and consecrated this night are the oils poured on us at baptism. Baptism is the most important sacrament, everything else – the openness to mercy and healing in Reconciliation, the commitment to be nourished at His table in Eucharist, the promise to live out our the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit at Confirmation, the commitment to another person in Sacramental Marriage, the promise to be an alter Christus at Ordination and the soothing balm of Anointing at times of Sickness – all are inextricably linked to baptism.

Baptism is the most important sacrament of Christian leadership. Preparation for baptism is very necessary; we should never rush it. I encourage the many baptism preparation teams at work in several parishes. It is great to know that there are adults being welcomed fully into our Church later in the week at Easter Vigils.

We have entered an exciting time in our diocese with the formal training of twenty-five candidates who will work as lay pastoral workers. I welcome many of them who are in our congregation this night. Indeed, the offertory gifts will be presented by some of those very candidates in a short while. Lay Pastoral Ministry formation is the fruit of decades of effort on the part of many to promote and encourage the full and active participation of the laity in the mission of the Church.  We have been blessed in Kildare & Leighlin with a number of full-time lay people whose work and example in our diocese continues to be a valuable resource and blessing for us.

I am reminded of the comment that a Church of only ordained members would be a peculiar place indeed. But it is also true that a Church without the ordained would be a much-impoverished witness to the values of the Gospel.

As we continue the vital work of encouraging the active participation of the laity in the mission of the Church I would ask this Chrism Night that we give equal emphasis and ardour to encouraging vocations to the priesthood so that the Good News of Christ will be preached to the new generations of Kildare & Leighlin folk.

I am very conscious this night, of priests who are unwell or facing a challenging diagnosis, you are in all our prayers. As always, I congratulate those celebrating significant jubilees of ordination this year: Matt Kelly (70 years); Jim O’Connell (60 years); Tom Little & John McEvoy (50 years); Ger Ahern, Ger Breen & Andy Leahy (40 years); Willie Byrne, Liam Morgan & John Heinhold (30 years) and Paddy Byrne (25 years). Mick Noonan, our eldest priest will be 72 years ordained this June. I thank the nineteen priests from overseas who work among us; their contribution is appreciated. I thank our Permanent Deacons and welcome all of them here, especially the most recently ordained: Jody Callan, John Delaney, Sebastian Kopijka, Michal Mizgala and Declan Prendergast. I thank all my brother priests and deacons for their great ministry and all of you who collaborate with them.

The Mass of Chrism reminds us of our calling, a calling that is rooted in our baptism. All of us are, as this year’s Confirmation theme runs, ‘Loved, Chosen, Necessary’. Baptism allows us all to belong, and the synod Synthesis reminds us ‘belonging’ is critical to our faith journey. Every one of you in the Cathedral this night is needed in our Church. Lay Pastoral Ministers do not replace the clergy. Lay Pastoral Ministers do not replace the lay faithful already immersed in the life of their parish. The clergy do not replace the call of every baptised person. The Church of Kildare & Leighlin needs everyone.

Each of us has a role in fostering and encouraging all vocations. On this Chrism night let us be especially mindful of our priests who are needed to ensure that we continue as eucharistic communities, as they preach the word of God and celebrate the Mass, giving us the nourishment of Christ whose name we all bear through our baptism.

As we gather in such numbers, I am very conscious of the small Christian communities in the Holy Land, who are unable to celebrate Chrism and the other ceremonies of Holy Week because of the ongoing conflict. The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa asks his people and all of us to pray the rosary for peace. I suggest we also light our Taybeh Peace oil lamp, the Diocesan Reach Out gift back in 2008; let us light it in all our churches during the ceremonies this Holy Week. Taybeh is the last fully Christian town on the West Bank currently under renewed Israeli settler incursions. In a small way, we will be walking with those unable to mark these hugely significant moments in our Christian calendar. I now light the Cathedral Taybeh lamp.

CHRISM MASS 2026 – BISHOP GER NASH HOMILY

Oil is very much part of our conversation these days. In the political tensions that dominate our news and our thoughts, we are being reminded of the immense power stored in something we so easily take for granted. 

We have long known that the global economy runs on oil, but we are learning again that oil also carries a deeper message: access to it is a form of power, and the ability to cut it off is the power to shape events and influence nations. 

Some of us still remember the shock of 1974, when the world suddenly woke up to its dependence on oil and oil-producing countries discovered the hidden power they possessed.

Tonight, we gather for the Chrism Mass, one of the great milestones of Holy Week. This celebration carries the central Christian message that we are all called to ministry. 

It is the only major liturgy in the Church year that has a truly diocesan character. While Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter are celebrated in our parishes as local Christian communities, tonight we come together as one Diocese – people, ministers, priests and administrator – in our Cathedral. Our hope and prayer is that the sacred energy of this night will radiate to every corner of the Diocese, carried in the holy oils we are about to bless.

These sacred oils release a divine energy in our lives: an energy that builds up, heals, affirms and marks us as belonging to Christ. After the ceremony, the priests and people present  will physically,  bring home the small vessels containing the Oil of Baptism, the Oil of Confirmation and the Oil of the Sick. 

Spiritually, you carry the message that we are united with all those who will be touched by these oils over the coming year – the children yet to be born who will be baptised, those preparing for Confirmation, and all who will need the healing prayer of the Church in times of illness. You are not simply carrying oil; you are carrying home the power of God.

In the Chrism Mass we see clearly that the Church exists for a purpose beyond itself. Through the sacred oils, that purpose is revealed: to welcome, to heal, to affirm, to encourage, to challenge, to support and to comfort. 

When we view the use of the oils through the lens of vocation, we realise that every stage of life, from Baptism to the moment of death, is a vocational moment. We are called into Christ’s family so that we may become his sisters and brothers, and in turn draw others into that same family through love.

We live constantly on the human see-saw of power and powerlessness, dependence and independence – rarely finding balance. As Holy Week and Easter unfold across the world, our shared spiritual story is overshadowed by a shared anxiety for peace. 

As Christians we understand the paradox: we are powerless in ourselves, yet God in his immense power has entrusted His own power to us through the doorway of Baptism and the nourishment of the sacraments. 

These are the fuel for our journey – a journey that begins at the baptismal font and continues to unfold in homes, parishes, schools and prayer groups right across our Diocese.

People prompted by the Holy Spirit are already being Church in new ways: they are the sparks that light ‘Flames of Hope’ in the lives of others. We are witnessing the emergence of a Church that remains faithful to what we have received yet, as a people, are “wise as serpents” in responding to the changing world around us.

This emerging Church is increasingly synodal in character – a Church that walks together, listens together and discerns together. Pastoral councils, at parish and diocesan level, are vital expressions of this synodality. They allow the baptised to share their gifts, insights and lived experience for the good of the whole mission. 

In a changing ecclesial landscape, we are also being invited to think more creatively about structures. Dioceses around Ireland are already exploring ways of sharing a bishop, and conversations about possible mergers of dioceses are taking place across the country. These developments are not signs of defeat, but of a living Church adapting so that the Gospel may continue to be proclaimed in a new reality.

We who are ordained ministers are called to serve the community of baptised disciples in carrying out this one mission of the Church – a mission that takes on fresh demands in our ever-changing world. We are greatly heartened by those who pray, who share their insights into Scripture in prayer groups, who lead liturgies whether as lay or ordained ministers and who gather for the Eucharist. 

We are especially proud of the twenty-eight lay people who are nearing the end of their formation for lay ministry in the Diocese. We thank them, and all who have accompanied them through study, pastoral placements and reflection groups.

The growth of lay ministry is a powerful sign of our interdependence – an interdependence that reflects the harmony of heaven while being firmly rooted in the realities of life in our time. Just as we have seen how oil can fuel greed, war and poverty, so too we recognise the importance of coming together in God’s light to bless these holy oils that will sustain us on our common journey – with one another and with God.

We give thanks tonight for the faithful ministry of our priests who, in a changing Church structure, continue to live their lifelong commitment with generosity and discover new expressions of their vocation. 

We offer special congratulations to those celebrating jubilees this year: our Diamond Jubilarians, Fr Lar O’Connor and Fr Pat Stafford; our Golden Jubilarians, Frs Colm Murphy, Jim Nolan and Jim Finn; and our Ruby Jubilarian, Fr Jim Fegan. 

We remember with affection those priests who cannot be with us tonight because of illness, and with sadness we pray for those who have died since last year’s Chrism Mass: Bishop Brendan Comiskey, Frs Odhran Furlong, Tom Eustace, Willie Howell, Dick Hayes, Kevin Cahill and Denis Doyle. May they be rewarded for their faithful service in the vineyard of the Lord.

Bishop Doran: ‘oil, and the control of oil, have been key factors in wars and conflicts’

Thinking About Oil

In recent weeks, like many of you, I have been thinking a lot about oil and the price of oil.  I was doing a bit of research and I found, to my surprise, that petroleum was discovered in Mesopotamia as long ago as 3000 BC.  The Chinese used it to light lamps centuries before the birth of Christ.

In modern times we have come to depend on oil in its various forms to lubricate and protect machinery, to fuel industry and transport, and to heat our homes and offices.  Just over a hundred years ago, the world began to move from coal to oil, because oil was cleaner.  Today, despite all of the benefits of oil, fossil fuels are recognised to pose major threat to the environment and we are being encouraged to reduce and eventually eliminate our use of them.

Oil has become, in the worst possible way, inextricably associated with greed and the thirst for power, and the killing of the innocent.  We can of course give thanks to God for the gift of oil and for so much that it has made possible, but the abuse of God’s gift must be called out.  Political leaders can dress it up with fancy language, but the fact remains that oil and the control of oil have been key factors in wars and conflicts going back to the first half of the twentieth century.  In these recent weeks of war in the Middle East, the image of billowing black smoke speaks of the destruction of our environment.  The peace and economic security of millions of people have been destroyed, while the international arms industry happily sells the weapons of war to whoever wants to buy.

Oil to Gladden Our Faces

This evening we come together to bless the Oil of the Sick and the Oil of Catechumens, and to consecrate the Chrism.  These oils will be used in the celebration of the Sacraments during the coming year.  Olive oil is not just a different kind of oil, but the use of olive oil in the Sacraments speaks to us of a mission and an attitude to life which are also very different.

Oil is described in the prayer of blessing as “Oil to gladden our faces”.  Already, in Old Testament times, the anointing with Chrism was a symbolic act, by which a person was set aside by God for a mission of service.  The young King David was anointed by the prophet Samuel to serve his people.

We can go back further of course, to Noah in the Book of Genesis, where a dove, sent out in search of dry land, returns with an Olive branch.  The olive branch became a symbol of peace and of new beginnings, and was adopted as the insignia of the United Nations.  I am conscious that, as we gather here, our peace-keepers are carrying out their mission in South Lebanon, simply by being present, without any great show of arms, as a reminder that there is another way.  One of the men there, a recent past pupil of Summerhill College has been in touch with me in recent days.  He is conscious of building on a tradition of care and respect for the local population that goes back almost fifty years.

The prophet Isaiah, in our first reading, speaks of mission in terms of bringing good news, setting captives free, opening the eyes of the blind, and proclaiming a year of the Lord’s favour.  Jesus himself adopts those same words of Isaiah, as he sets out on his own mission as “the Christ”, the anointed one of God.  His is a mission that builds up and strengthens; not a mission that destroys. We who are called to be his disciples are given a share in his mission.

The Sacraments

a. Anointing

The first of the Holy Oils that we bless this evening is the Oil of Anointing of the Sick.  When we think of how oils and lotions have long been used in the treatment of injuries and for the relief of pain, it is a very natural symbol of healing.  The prayer of blessing connects the ministry of the Church with the healing ministry of Jesus.  That ministry continues both in the sacrament of anointing and in the care provided by doctors, nurses, carers, chaplains and so many others.  The Sacrament serves as a powerful sign of the closeness of Jesus to all who are sick or frail due to old age, and of how they share in the mission of Jesus, both in their prayer and by sharing in his cross. 

b. Baptism 

The oil of Catechumens is used to anoint those who are preparing for Baptism.  In modern times, it has been incorporated into the rite of Infant Baptism, but in its original form, which is still followed with the Baptism of Adults, it is celebrated separately.  The anointing with the oil of catechumens is traditionally associated with a Prayer of Exorcism.  The Church prays that the one to be Baptised will be protected from the power of evil and given wisdom and strength to walk always in the light.

c. Baptism, Confirmation 

The sacred Chrism is a mixture of olive oil and sweet smelling balsam.  It is first used in the Sacrament of Baptism, as a sacramental sign that every Baptised person shares, through Baptism, in the priestly and prophetic mission of Jesus.  This entrusting with mission is renewed in the Sacrament of Confirmation, with the outpouring of the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  The mission that comes through Baptism and Confirmation is a life-long mission, which takes shape as we reflect on God’s Word, and seek to use the gifts that we have been given; powerful gifts for service.

It is worth remembering the fruits of the Holy Spirit, about which St. Paul writes in the Letter to the Galatians.  It is these fruits:- Love, Joy, Peace. Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness and Self-control, that we Christians are called to bring to a broken world that is so much in need of the Holy Spirit.  This evening, as we bless the Chrism, I want to encourage all of you here, and all who are listening to me online, to live fully the grace of your Baptism and to use the gifts of your Confirmation for the good of the Church and of humanity, as well as for your own salvation.  We are called, as Pope Francis wrote, to be missionary disciples.

d. Holy Orders

Priests and Bishops are also anointed with Sacred Chrism at Ordination, as a sacramental sign of the mission entrusted to them in service of the people of God.  Traditionally, the priests gather with the Bishop at the Mass of Chrism, for a renewal of their priestly commitment, and I am delighted that so many of your are able to be here this evening.  I welcome those of you who have come to minister in our Dioceses recently and who are with us for the first time.  I invite you this evening to join in Spirit also with the priests of your own Diocese or Congregation, with whom you have a special bond of fraternity.

On behalf of all the people of God gathered here, and around the whole of our two Dioceses, I want to acknowledge the generous pastoral care that you provide, sometimes in the face of ill health.  The harvest is great, and it calls for generosity and faith on the part of all of us.  I understand that it can be challenging when you are asked to take on new challenges or to move to another parish where your gifts are needed.  I think it can also be enriching.  I encourage you to have confidence in the Holy Spirit, and not to neglect your own faith as you seek to nourish the faith of others.  To use the words of Saint Paul, “we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us”.

Homily of Bishop Alan McGuckian at the Chrism Mass 2026

Readings: Isaiah 61:1–3, 6, 8–9  |  Revelation 1:5–8  |  Luke 4:16–21

“Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing”

1. The Year of the Lord’s Favour

Brothers and sisters – my dear priests and deacons – every year we gather in this cathedral for the Mass of Chrism, and every year I find myself sitting with the same question before we begin. Not a complicated question. Just this: do we actually believe what we have just heard?

Because the Church places some astonishing words on our lips today. The words Jesus read in the synagogue at Nazareth. Words that rang out then and ring out still:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour.”

Jesus’ words are on our lips! And he said: “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

Today. Not eventually. Not once we have organised ourselves sufficiently. Not when we have enough resources, enough people, enough certainty. Today. In the hearing of this congregation gathered from across the Diocese, in our Cathedral, in Belfast – this scripture is being fulfilled. Or it is not being fulfilled at all.

It sounds simple. It isn’t simple. But it is true. And the Chrism Mass, year after year, will not let us off the hook.

2. We Have Been Watching It Happen

The Church has not simply dropped these words on us today without preparation. Every Sunday of Lent, the liturgy has been showing us Jesus fulfilling the mission he declared in the synagogue – scene by scene, person by person, life by life.

We began in the desert. Jesus, driven by the Spirit into the wilderness, tempted to use his power for himself – and refusing. Refusing to turn stones to bread. Refusing to grasp at kingdoms. Refusing the world’s way of doing things. The mission begins not with a flourish but with a ‘no’.

Then the mountain. The Transfiguration. Peter, James and John given a glimpse of who walks among them – dazzling, luminous – and the voice from the cloud: “This is my Son, the Beloved; listen to him.” A promise held out before the long walk down.

And then – do you remember? – the woman at the well. A Samaritan woman, alone at midday, because the other women of the town would not walk with her. She was damaged. Unworthy. Written off. And Jesus sitting beside her, asks her for water, and sees her – really sees her – in a way no one had in a very long time. In being truly seen, she is freed. She runs back to the town: “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did.” The captive, set free.

Next the man born blind. Sitting at the roadside his whole life, the world passing him by. And Jesus stops, anoints his eyes, and he sees. Not a metaphor. An actual man, blinking in the light of the world for the very first time. Recovery of sight to the blind. The mission, unfolding.

And last Sunday, before Palm Sunday – Lazarus. Dead four days. Already in the tomb. Martha’s heartbreak speaking for all of us: “Lord, if you had been here…” And Jesus weeps. And then he calls: “Lazarus, come out.” And he came out. In this mission even death does not get the last word.

And then Palm Sunday, and we walked with Jesus into Jerusalem knowing what was coming. We heard the Passion proclaimed. We sat with the weight of it. The one who freed others, bound. The one who gave sight, blindfolded. The one who raised the dead, killed.

And now, today –the Mass of Chrism – the Church does something remarkable. She takes us back. Back to Nazareth. Back to the synagogue. Back to the very beginning of the mission. As if to say: before you go any further into Holy Week, before you stand at the foot of the cross on Friday and before the empty tomb on Sunday morning – remember what this was always about.

And so the question the Church places before us today is not a comfortable one. It is this:

Are you part of the mission? Or are you watching from the crowd?

Even as we speak, the mission is being fulfilled somewhere in this diocese. Someone is being freed from the weight of what they have been told they are. Someone is beginning, finally, to see. Someone is being called out of a tomb of despair, addiction, loneliness or grief. Is that happening because of us? Or is it happening regardless of us?

The Chrism Mass is an invitation. Not a judgement. An invitation to stop being onlookers and to become participants – to take our place inside the story we have been watching unfold since Ash Wednesday. To be part of the fulfilment, not just witnesses to it.

3.  Chrism – Baptised and Sent

The oils blessed and consecrated at this Mass – the Oil of the Sick, the Oil of Catechumens, the Sacred Chrism – will be carried from this cathedral to every parish in the diocese. They will anoint the newly baptised, the sick and dying, those preparing to receive the sacraments. They will anoint hands – hands like the ones I see before me today. Specifically, this year, they will anoint the hands of Thomas Hampton and Esteban Rosales.

That anointing is ontological – it changes something in you that can’t be unchanged. It is not ceremonial. It is not decorative. Isaiah knew it: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; he has anointed me.” The anointing came first. The mission followed. You cannot have the mission without the anointing, and you cannot receive the anointing and refuse the mission.

So what is our mission? The readings today are unambiguous. Good news to the poor. Liberty to captives. Sight to the blind. Freedom to the oppressed. John’s vision in the Book of Revelation shows us Christ – the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead – who has made us “a kingdom of priests serving his God and Father.” Not a kingdom of administrators. Not a kingdom of institution-keepers. A kingdom of priests. Servants. People on their knees before the living God and before the needs of the world.

The Catholic Church is at its most authentic, most fully itself, when it is a Church that serves. When priests and deacons are holy men who pour themselves out for their people. When a holy people, fired by the faith their priests and deacons have kindled, go out into the world to be Christ where Christ is most needed.

This is the crux of it – holy priests and then a holy people who serve the mission in the world.

a) The Holiness the World is Waiting For

I want to speak to you directly now, my brother priests, because this Mass is yours in a particular way.

The renewal of our priestly promises we make together is not routine. It is not a formality. It is, or it should be, one of the most searching moments of our year. Ignatius of Loyola used to speak about the importance of consolation and desolation – of noticing, honestly, the movements within us. So let me ask: what is the honest movement in you as you come to renew those promises today? Relief? Tiredness? Frustration? Joy? A mixture of all of those? Whatever it is – bring it. God meets us where we actually are, not where we think we ought to be.

People are not looking for priests who are efficient. They are not even, primarily, looking for them to be competent – though God knows we should be competent and efficient. What people in this diocese, and in every diocese, are desperately hungry for is priests who are holy. Priests in whom they can glimpse something of God.

We all know what it looks like when a priest is running on empty. And we all know what it looks like when he isn’t. People can tell. They can always tell. A man who has spent time in prayer, who has sat with Christ in the silence and let himself be loved – that man walks differently into a room. He listens differently. He presides differently. Something in people relaxes when he’s present, because they sense they are in the presence of someone who has been with God.

That is holiness. Not perfection – none of us is offering perfection. I say this to myself as much as to any of you. But a life genuinely oriented toward Christ, in the Ignatian sense of finding God in all things – in the visits, the funerals, the arguments at the parish council, the phone calls late at night – that is what gives a priesthood its power. Not competence. Not strategy. Holiness.

Holiness is not a private achievement. It radiates outward. It gives permission. It calls things forth. When a priest is genuinely holy – prayerful, selfless, present, joyful in the deep sense – something happens in a parish. People awaken. They start to believe that their own faith matters, that their own discipleship is possible, that they too are called.

The holy priest does not keep people dependent on him. He sets them free – free to follow Christ, free to serve, free to become the missionary disciples they were baptised to be.

b) Servants, Not Curators

Nobody ever fell in love with Christ because a parish kept excellent records. Though, believe I want the records well kept. The Church has never grown by becoming more comfortable – only by becoming more generous.

Jesus did not come to preserve the synagogue. He came to fulfil the scriptures and to send his people out. “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me… he has sent me.” Sent. Not stationed. Not settled. Sent.

Ignatius understood this profoundly. The early Jesuits did not sit in one place and wait for the world to come to them. They went. They found God already at work in the most unexpected places and they joined in. That same instinct – to seek, to go out, to trust that God is already ahead of us – belongs to the whole Church, not just to religious orders. It belongs to every baptised person in every parish in this diocese.

c) Alpha and Omega – God is the Beginning and End, Not Us

John’s vision ends with a declaration that is also, I think, a mercy: “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

We do not carry the weight of the Church’s future on our own shoulders. We serve a Lord who is the beginning and the end, the one who was and who is and who is to come. The future of the Church is not ours to manufacture. It is his to give. Our part is faithfulness. Our part is to share in God’s holiness, to serve and to be sent.

Pope urges Easter end to US-Israel war on Iran

Pope Leo XIV has expressed hopes that the US-Israel war on Iran could be finished before Easter.

The US-born pontiff made the remarks to reporters as he left the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo outside of Rome on Tuesday.

“I’m told that president Trump has recently stated that he would like to end the war,” Leo said.

“I hope that he’s looking for an off-ramp.

“Hopefully he’s looking for a way to decrease the amount of violence, of bombing, which would be a significant contribution to removing the hatred that’s being created, that’s increasing constantly in the Middle East and elsewhere.”

Leo called on all world leaders to return to dialogue and look for “ways to reduce the amount of violence,” so that “peace, especially at Easter, might reign in our hearts”.

The Pope’s remarks came during Holy Week, the most sacred period of the year for Christians.

“It should be the holiest time of the year. It is a time of peace, a time of reflection. But as we all know, again, in the world, in many places we are seeing so much suffering, so many deaths, even innocent children,” Leo said.

“We constantly make the call for peace, but unfortunately, many people want to promote hatred, violence, war.”

On Palm Sunday, the pontiff said God does not listen to the prayers of those who make war or cite God to justify their violence, as he prayed especially for Christians in the Middle East during Mass in St Peter’s Square.

Leaders on all sides of the Iran war have used religion to justify their actions. US officials, especially US defence secretary Pete Hegseth, have invoked their Christian faith to cast the war as a Christian nation trying to vanquish its foes with military might.

Russia’s Orthodox Church, too, has justified Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “holy war” against a Western world it considers has fallen into evil.

As Holy Week continues, Leo will carry out the Holy Thursday foot-washing tradition in the basilica of St John Lateran, where popes have performed it for decades.

On Friday, Leo is due to preside over the Good Friday procession at Rome’s Colosseum commemorating Christ’s Passion and crucifixion, and will carry the cross himself.

Saturday brings the late night Easter Vigil, during which Leo will baptize new Catholics, followed a few hours later by Easter Sunday when Christians commemorate the resurrection of Jesus.

Leo will celebrate Easter Sunday Mass in St Peter’s Square and then deliver his Easter blessing from the loggia of the basilica.

“Hope is at the very heart of the Easter mystery” – Bishop of Raphoe

The Bishop of Raphoe, Niall Coll, has shared a message of hope to his parishoners ahead of Easter Sunday.

2026 marks Bishop Coll’s first Easter in his post, being appointed to the role in November of last year.

He says that the message of Easter “speaks with quiet but enduring force” in the face of “violent rhetoric and devastating wars.”

“At a moment when overreach of power and bitter invective seem to dominate public life, and when violent rhetoric and devastating wars scar so many parts of our world, the message of Easter speaks with quiet but enduring force. The Risen Lord did not overwhelm his first disciples or compel their belief through spectacle. There was no display of ‘shock and awe,’ no coercion of the heart,” Bishop Coll wrote.

“Instead, the Gospel accounts reveal something more subtle and more profound. Mary Magdalene, we are told (John 20:15), mistook him for a gardener. The disciples on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:18) took him for a stranger. Only later, at table, in the breaking of the bread, were their eyes opened and they recognised him as the Lord. In that moment, fear gave way to hope. Their hearts, once heavy with grief and confusion, were set ablaze. Though it was night, they rose at once and returned to Jerusalem to proclaim the astonishing truth: Christ is risen.”

“Their experience speaks powerfully to our own. Beneath the ashes of discouragement and weariness, there often lies a living ember of hope, waiting only to be rekindled. Easter reminds us that even in the darkest moments, grace is quietly at work, drawing life out of what seems lifeless.”

“As Pope Leo XIV expresses it so beautifully: ‘Christ’s resurrection teaches us that no history is so marked by disappointment or sin that it cannot be visited by hope. No fall is definitive, no night is eternal, no wound is destined to remain open forever. However distant, lost or unworthy we may feel, there is no distance that can extinguish the unfailing power of God’s love.'”

Bishop Coll also wrote that the Easter message is to keep hope alive “in the face of unspeakable human suffering.”

“In the face of unspeakable human suffering – in the Middle East, in Ukraine and in so many other troubled places – our ears have grown accustomed to a chilling new vocabulary: drone warfare, hypersonic missiles, autonomous weapons. It is easy to feel overwhelmed, to the point of paralysis, and to surrender to despair.”

“Yet Easter calls us to resist that temptation. To keep hope alive is not naïve; it is an act of faith. It means praying earnestly for peace, encouraging and supporting those -politicians, diplomats and all who wield influence – who strive for justice and reconciliation. It means refusing to let darkness have the final word.”

“For hope is at the very heart of the Easter mystery. It is the quiet, persistent light that no darkness can overcome.”

Trump spokeswoman rejects criticism from Pope Leo XIV

US President Donald Trump's spokeswoman, Karoline Leavitt, has resisted criticism from Pope Leo XIV. 

"I don't think anything is wrong with our military leaders or the president calling on the American people to pray for our soldiers and those who serve abroad for our country. In fact, I think this is a very noble thing," she told reporters at the White House on Monday (local time).

The pope had said on Palm Sunday that God "does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war," and Jesus described as the "king of peace," firmly rejecting violence. 

Leo XIV emphasized that violence is not in harmony with the Christian faith, and called for arms to be laid down and peace.

Theologian Tück rejects rehabilitation of Hans Küng

Jan-Heiner Tück has rejected demands for a posthumous rehabilitation of Hans Küng. 

"The coherence of the Catholic would be damaged, even a papal self-dismontration would be equivalent if the Pope would sign the infallibility criticism of Küng without reservations," writes Tück in a contribution of the portal "communio.de".

The starting point was the demand of the theologian Wolfgang Beinert, who suggested in the "Herder Correspondence" a rehabilitation of Küng and paid tribute to him as a "prophet of Catholicity". 

Tück now contradicts Beinert. 

Although Tück acknowledges that Küng has "had a vigilant sense of time issues" and "disclosed modernity conflicts of the Church," he considers rehabilitation to be theologically unconvincing.

Dispute over Pope

Küng, for example, "put a question mark behind the term 'infallible', relativized the dogmas of the First Vatican through historical contextualization," and thus "called into question the last-in-hand competence of the pope - as if he had, as an academic theologian, the last-instance competence to do so," according to Tück.

In addition, Küng had "demanded a democratization of the Church and wanted to go beyond the Council with the Council." Küng has also held different positions on ethical issues than the Church’s Magisterium. Küng "has not taken back any of his disputed positions," Tück insists. 

Rehabilitation would therefore "run out to a dissenting." If Pope Leo XIV were to follow the proposal, it would be "an act of disloyalty to his predecessors."

Hans Küng

Hans Küng died in April 2021. He is considered one of the most important German-speaking theologians. He was born in 1928 in the Swiss canton of Lucerne and in 1954 he was ordained a Catholic priest. 

After studying theology in Rome and Paris, Küng had been a professor in Tübingen since 1960 and participated as a theological adviser in the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965).

Even before the Council, a conflict with bishops had developed, which focused on the infallibility of the Pope and fundamental questions of Christology. The dispute escalated in 1979, when the Vatican revoked Küng's church teaching permit. 

Since then, he was a faculty-independent full professor in Tübingen until his retirement in 1996.

Roche could be imminently relieved as Prefect of Divine Worship

The possible departure of Cardinal Arthur Roche from the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments once again places the Church’s liturgical direction at the center of the debate, and with it a vital part of its future in the coming years. 

The information, advanced by British journalist Damian Thompson, points—citing Vatican sources—to an imminent transfer of Roche to the position of patron of the Sovereign Order of Malta. 

Without official confirmation, the move is already being interpreted as a possible reconfiguration of one of the Curia’s most sensitive dicasteries.

The Profile of Roche: Executor of a Line

Roche has not been a transitional prefect. Since his appointment in 2021, after having been secretary of the same dicastery, he became the main executor of the liturgical policy promoted from Rome in recent years. 

His management has been marked by a strict, even expansive, application of the guidelines emanating from the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes.

In practice, his role has been less that of a proactive theologian and more that of a disciplinary guarantor. 

Various public interventions and official responses from the dicastery under his direction consolidated a restrictive interpretation of the use of the traditional rite, limiting margins that in previous stages had remained open. This made him a highly controversial figure, especially in ecclesial sectors that had found in traditional liturgy a space for doctrinal and pastoral stability.

Traditionis Custodes: An Open Wound

The axis of his prefecture has undoubtedly been the implementation of Traditionis Custodes. 

The document represented a break with the previous framework established by Summorum Pontificum, reversing the logic of coexistence between liturgical forms and returning effective control to the bishops under Roman supervision.

The criticism has not focused solely on the normative content, but on its application. Under Roche, the dicastery adopted criteria that, in practice, significantly reduced the public presence of the traditional rite, imposing restrictive authorizations, geographical limitations, and additional controls. 

For many, this was not a simple regulation, but a strategy of progressive attrition.

The result has been persistent tension in multiple dioceses, with a growing perception that the liturgical issue has ceased to be a pastoral sphere to become a terrain of disciplinary control. That wound, far from closing, has become institutionalized.

The Sovereign Order of Malta as a Retirement: Precedents

The possible transfer of Roche to the position of patron of the Sovereign Order of Malta fits into a pattern already known within curial dynamics. 

The Sovereign Order of Malta has served on various occasions as a destination for cardinals who, for various reasons, left the core of Roman power without an explicit break.

The most evident case is that of Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke, who was appointed patron after having held positions of greater weight in the Curia. 

Although Burke’s context was different—marked by more visible doctrinal tensions—the institutional scheme is comparable: a transfer to an honorable position, with formal relevance, but away from the center of decision-making.

In this sense, the move now attributed to Roche can be interpreted as an orderly exit, without explicit disauthorization, but with clear effects on the internal redistribution of power.

What is at Stake: The Next Prefect

Beyond the personal replacement, the decisive issue is who will occupy the Dicastery for Divine Worship. The profile of the new prefect will determine whether the line marked in recent years is consolidated or whether a correction is introduced.

The real margin for change will not depend solely on the appointment, but on whether the application of Traditionis Custodes is reviewed—explicitly or implicitly. Without that element, any replacement could be reduced to a stylistic adjustment without substantive consequences.

For now, the information remains without official confirmation. 

But the mere fact that it has emerged with some credibility puts the focus on this Dicastery where the future of the Church and the first major decision of the pontificate of Leo XIV can be decided.

Cardinal Schönborn insists: Amoris Laetitia did not change the Church's doctrine

Ten years after the publication of Amoris laetitia, the Austrian cardinal, Christoph Schönborn, has once again come out in defense of Francis’s controversial document, rejecting accusations of doctrinal rupture and claiming its pastoral value.

According to Kath Press, the prelate—who presented the text in the Vatican in 2016—maintains that the document did not change the Church’s doctrine, but rather introduced a more attentive gaze to the concrete situations of families.

Schönborn Denies a Doctrinal Change

The Austrian cardinal was explicit in rejecting one of the main criticisms of the document: “We do not need a new doctrine of the Church. That one is clear and is based on the teaching of Jesus”, he affirmed.

In his view, Amoris laetitia does not relativize the teaching on marriage nor introduce an indiscriminate opening to the sacraments, but rather demands greater pastoral discernment on the part of priests.

The Controversy of Communion for the Divorced and Remarried

One of the most discussed points of the text was the possibility, in certain cases, of access to confession and communion for the divorced and remarried.

Schönborn insisted that this issue cannot be understood as a general norm nor as a break with tradition, but as a call for a deeper analysis of each situation: “It is necessary to look more attentively and discern, with true sensitivity toward each concrete case”.

The cardinal also emphasized that the document should not be read from a specific footnote, but in its entirety, avoiding reducing it to a disciplinary issue.

Continuity with St. John Paul II

In the face of those who see in Amoris laetitia a break with Familiaris consortio, Schönborn defended the continuity between both texts.

As he explained, St. John Paul II placed emphasis on the foundations—the indissolubility of marriage and its sacred character—while Francis has wanted to illuminate the real situations in which many families live.

In this sense, he affirmed that the 2016 document can serve as a key to reread the previous one from a more pastoral perspective.

An Approach Centered on the Reality of Families

Schönborn especially highlighted the passages in which Francis invites priests to focus on families living in difficult situations.

As he pointed out, the Church cannot limit itself to applying abstract criteria, but must recognize the effort of those who try to sustain family life in complex conditions.

The cardinal insisted that the document proposes a path of discernment and accompaniment, rather than a simple normative response to irregular situations.

Ten Years Later, a Debate That Continues

A decade after its publication, Amoris laetitia remains one of the most debated texts of Francis’s pontificate.

Schönborn’s words expose the position of those who see in the document a pastoral development without doctrinal rupture, although the discussion on its interpretation and application remains open in the Church.

Restoration of the “Last Judgment” in the Sistine Chapel completes before Holy Week

Visitors to Rome can once again contemplate in all its splendor Michelangelo’s Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. 

The famous fresco has been restored and cleaned in just five weeks, a slightly shorter timeframe than initially planned by the Vatican Museums.

The intervention has allowed the removal of the whitish patina that for years had dulled the vibrant colors and strong chiaroscuro of one of the most impressive works of Western sacred art.

The Vatican restores shine to one of its great jewels

The restoration began in early February with the installation of scaffolding, although throughout the process the Sistine Chapel remained open to the public. The work was carried out behind a canvas that reproduced the image of the fresco.

As explained by the chief restorer, Paolo Violini, the veil that partially covered the painting was caused by microparticles accumulated over time. Before proceeding with its removal, the work underwent detailed analysis and documentation.

The director of the Vatican Museums, Barbara Jatta, emphasized that it is part of the institution’s mission to preserve one of its most valuable treasures: the fresco in which Michelangelo represented with singular dramatic intensity the end of times.

A monumental fresco that dominates the altar wall

The Last Judgment, 13.70 meters high by 12 meters wide, occupies the entire altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. The last cleaning of this work had been carried out approximately thirty years ago.

The scene presents Christ as the Universal Judge against an intense blue background, surrounded by more than 300 figures, in a composition of enormous visual and theological force.

A papal commission that marked the history of art

The work was commissioned in 1533 by Pope Clement VII to Michelangelo Buonarroti, although its execution began under the pontificate of Paul III, who freed the artist from other commitments so that he could devote himself fully to the decoration of the chapel.

Michelangelo began the work in the summer of 1536 and completed it in the fall of 1541, leaving one of the most famous and awe-inspiring representations of the Last Judgment in the history of Christian art.

Recent setting for the election of Leo XIV

In modern times, the Last Judgment has also served as an imposing backdrop for the conclaves held in the Sistine Chapel. This also happened in May 2025, during the election of Pope Leo XIV.

The restoration, completed before Holy Week, allows millions of visitors to once again contemplate this masterpiece with a clarity and chromatic intensity that had been attenuated over time.

Israel backtracks and allows Pizzaballa access to the Holy Sepulchre after international pressure

Israel has reversed its decision and will allow the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, to access the Holy Sepulchre and celebrate liturgical services, following the strong international pressure generated in the last hours.

The change in stance comes after a wave of diplomatic condemnations for the initial prohibition of celebrating Palm Sunday Mass in the temple, considered the holiest place in Christianity.

Netanyahu orders immediate access

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has confirmed that he has given instructions to the competent authorities for Cardinal Pizzaballa to “receive full and immediate access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem”.

The rectification comes just a few hours after the police prevented access to the Latin Patriarch, citing security reasons in the context of the current regional conflict.

Unprecedented international pressure

Israel’s decision comes after an unusually rapid and coordinated diplomatic reaction from several countries, which denounced what happened as a serious restriction on religious freedom during Holy Week.

Various European governments raised formal protests and demanded guarantees for the free exercise of worship in Jerusalem’s holy places.

Spanish bishops offering top donors chance to meet pope

With Pope Leo XIV’s upcoming visit to Spain in need of significant financing, the country’s episcopal conference is resorting to creative methods to generate income, including enticing wealthy donors with the prospect of meeting the pope in person.

In a dossier obtained by Crux Now, the conference lays out a five-tiered sponsorship scale with the top two tiers – “great benefactor” and “benefactor” – being offered the chance to meet the pope in return for sizable donations.

The conference has sent the dossier to businesses, foundations, and individuals of significant means, in hope they will contribute to offset the cost of the visit scheduled for June of this year.

What the bishops are asking – and why

The great benefactor will donate between €500,000–€1 million ($575,000–$1.15 million), and will have a private meeting with the pontiff, a working meeting at the Vatican, and reserved spaces at the events during the trip.

The benefactor option of between €250,000–€500,000 ($290,000–$575,000) has the same benefits as the great benefactor, except the meeting with the pope won’t be private.

A spokesperson from the committee organizing the pope’s trip told Crux Now the Spanish bishops are hoping by such methods to keep the taxpayer from having to shoulder the burden of the papal visit.

“Requesting support, in this case, is our way of covering the material costs of a trip of this magnitude without these falling on taxpayers,” they said.

“The Holy Father, like the Church in Spain, will, as usual, show a gesture of gratitude to all of them, as well as to many others—authorities, volunteers, etc.—in the form of a meeting,” they said.

As you make your way down the scale, there is the “sponsor”, for €50,000–€250,000 ($57,000–$290,000), who doesn’t get a guaranteed meeting with the pope but can use the official “Business Ambassador” title in public communications.

Then there is the “collaborator” for €10,000 ($11,500) who gets inclusion in the official directory of collaborating entities and a mention in event communications and the “friend” of the event who contributes €1,000 ($1,150) and is given formal recognition in the form of a certificate.

“The launch and the actual holding of His Holiness’s trip will be funded thanks to the support of donors, ranging from large companies to small individual contributions, including donations and in-kind contributions, as well as the work of thousands of volunteers,” the spokesperson added.

The estimated costs for the trip are somewhere between €15–€30 million, and normal Catholics in the pew are also being asked to contribute.

Alongside the benefits of the sponsorship package, the Spanish ecclesial hierarchy is also tempting potential donors with the prospect of increased exposure for their company.

The dossier estimates that the visit will exceed 1.5 million in-person attendees and that it will reach a global television audience of 500 million. Further, they expect huge coverage on social media networks, plus the association of their brand with values such as peace and solidarity.

Then there are the tax deductions: due to something called the Patronage Law, deductions can reach up to 40 or 50 percent, and in certain circumstances this could be up to 90 percent if the event is deemed to be of “exceptional public interest.”

Precedents

In 2011, Pope Benedict XVI visited Spain for World Youth Day which was being held in Madrid that year. Like Leo’s visit, funding for the costs of the trip was provided by private entities – and was not without controversy.

Firstly, there was the fact that, as now, donors were offered the chance to meet the pope depending on the size of their donations. Secondly, due to a tax break system, many of the donors received a lot of their money back prompting over one hundred priests to write an open letter complaining that the costs of the trip shouldn’t fall on the average taxpayer.

The concept of giving generous donors special treatment is hardly new, but it is granting direct access to the pope in return to money that has raised eyebrows. For example, during Pope Francis’ visit to the United States in 2015, donors were given front row seats during the events but there is no record of private meetings.

In the United Kingdom the mere mention of leveraging access to the pope to solicit donations will create headlines. Last year, the CEO of one of King Charles III’s charities suggested letting donors attend a meeting between the king and the pope and it was immediately shut down. That didn’t stop it getting splashed across the front pages.

Either way, the Spanish bishops do not seem unduly concerned by such headlines. If they are, they must think it’s worth it in return for being able to finance Pope Leo’s trip which the Mediterranean country is waiting in keen anticipation for.

Vatican affirms future of Anglican ordinariates: ‘A precious gift and a treasure to be shared’

The Vatican has reaffirmed its support for the Anglican ordinariates, confirming that these communities have a permanent and valued place within the Catholic Church.

On March 24, the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith issued a document titled “Characteristics of the Anglican Heritage as Lived in the Ordinariates Established Under the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus.”

The document is the fruit of a meeting held March 1–3 in Rome, during which Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández, prefect of the dicastery, invited the ordinariate bishops — including Bishop Steven J. Lopes of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, Bishop David Waller of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham in England, and Bishop Anthony Randazzo of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross — to reflect on how they have lived and integrated their Anglican spiritual and liturgical heritage within the Catholic Church.

The document highlights key characteristics of the Anglican patrimony as lived in the ordinariates, including a distinctive “ecclesial ethos” in which both the laity and the clergy participate actively in church governance, and a focus on evangelization through beauty in worship, music, and art.

Direct outreach to the poor is “a defining element of the patrimony,” according to the document, as is a pastoral culture that connects divine worship with daily life in what the document calls an “almost monastic rhythm drawn from the English spiritual tradition” that characterizes ordinariate parish communities.

The bishops said a strong emphasis on the family as the “domestic church,” as “the home is … the first place where the faith is learned and lived” is strongly emphasized.

The document also highlighted Scripture-centered preaching and the importance of spiritual direction and the sacrament of penance.

The bishops noted that, despite the great geographical distances between the three ordinariates, they share “a core shared identity” and offer “a unique reflection of the face of the Church and a distinctive contribution to the living richness of her identity as ‘one, holy, catholic, and apostolic.’”

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston serves as the mother church and cathedral of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, which spans the U.S. and Canada. Established by Pope Benedict XVI in 2012, the ordinariate was given its own cathedral when Lopes was ordained and installed on Feb. 2, 2016.

In a message sent to parishioners, Lopes welcomed the document as a significant encouragement, calling it “an exhortation to live this patrimony in all of its richness. We have been given a unique set of tools — the way we worship, the way we structure parish life, the centrality of family life, etc. — which add to the vitality of the Catholic Church. Our ordinariate identity arises from fidelity to this patrimony and this mission. Our diversity does not detract from the underlying communion of the Church… it strengthens it.”

Lopes encouraged parishioners to share the document with family and friends who may wonder why the ordinariate’s experience of Catholic life looks different from the norm.

“Prior to today’s publication of this document, you had to glean descriptions of our patrimony from rather dry legal documents,” he wrote. “Now the Holy See is offering us a much more organic reflection on our identity and mission — and clearly stating that the ordinariate is not just a means to an end but has a long and bright future ahead of it!”

The ordinariates: A brief history

The Anglican ordinariates trace their origins to 1980, when St. John Paul II approved the Pastoral Provision, which allowed married former Episcopal clergy to be ordained as Catholic priests and permitted the formation of Anglican-use communities within existing Roman Catholic dioceses.

This was the first major step in preserving elements of Anglican liturgical and spiritual heritage for those entering full communion with Rome.

In 2009, Pope Benedict XVI took this further by issuing the apostolic constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, which created the personal ordinariates as permanent structures within the Catholic Church.

Each of the three Anglican ordinariates is a personal (non-territorial) jurisdiction, similar to a diocese but defined by people (those with an Anglican background who have entered full communion with the Catholic Church) rather than by strict geographical boundaries.

“Any Catholic may attend ordinariate liturgies and functions, just as members of the ordinariate can attend liturgies and functions at any Catholic parish,” according to the website for the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter.

The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross encompasses Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Guam, Philippines, and surrounding areas.

The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham is located in London and encompasses England, Scotland, and Wales.

St. Cloud Diocese Plans To Merge Churches And Restructure

The Diocese of St. Cloud has announced its projected plan for major parish restructuring.

All Things New: Honoring the Past and Inspiring the Future outlines proposed parish mergers and structural changes intended to strengthen the long-term sustainability of the diocese.

Current projections indicate that the restructuring would reduce the number of parish corporations from 131 to about 48. While some local plans include recommendations for church closures, the diocese emphasized that decisions about closing individual church buildings are separate from parish mergers and will be addressed gradually over the coming months and years.

Under Canan Law, a merged parish combines the assets, territory, and responsibilities of two or more parishes into a single parish corporation.

Bishop Patrick Neary will review each request for closure individually and consult with advisors before making any final decisions. Bishop Neary expects to issue parish merger decrees in April and May. The decrees will be released in stages rather than all at once.

The diocese noted that many churches will no longer host Mass on a regular basis after the restructuring, but this does not mean they are closed. Local ACCs will determine how each site will be used moving forward.

For a list of affected parishes and more information, check out the Diocese of St. Cloud Website. 

Pope appoints new Substitute, Nuncio to Italy, and Prefect of Papal Household

From Colombia to the Secretariat of State, from the Secretariat of State to the Nunciature in Italy, from the Nunciature in Italy to the Prefecture of the Papal Household. 

Pope Leo XIV has chosen Archbishop Paolo Rudelli, who will turn 56 in July, to be the new Substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, one of the most important and sensitive positions in the entire Vatican apparatus, effectively a kind of “Interior Minister” of the Vatican City State.

Ordained a priest in 1995 and incardinated in Bergamo, Archbishop Rudelli holds a degree in moral theology and has until now served as Apostolic Nuncio to Colombia. He assumed that post in 2023 following his appointment by Pope Francis, who had consecrated him Bishop in 2019 and sent him, in January 2020, as his representative to Zimbabwe.

The prelate's experience in the Holy See’s diplomatic service, however, dates back over twenty years to 2001, with assignments in the Pontifical Representations in Ecuador and Poland, and in the Section for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State.

Today, by the will of Pope Leo XIV, he becomes the head of that Section, marking the Pope's second significant appointment in the Secretariat of State, following last November’s appointment of the Assessor, the Nigerian theologian and canonist Anthony Onyemuche Ekpo, previously Undersecretary of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development.

'Gesture of trust'

In a statement issued following today's announcement, Archbishop Rudelli said, “The call from His Holiness Pope Leo to work closely in the exercise of his supreme mission as Substitute of the Secretariat of State is a gesture of undeserved trust that deeply honors me.” 

The Archbishop reassured that “moved by faith,” he will “take on this service in the spirit indicated by the Apostolic Constitution Praedicate Evangelium.”

He said he will do so with the awareness that he can rely on the guidance of Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and on the collaboration of Assessor, Monsignor Anthony Onyemuche Ekpo, and all the staff of the Section for General Affairs.

In particular, the new Substitute noted he places his trust in the “intercession” of a distinguished fellow countryman of Bergamo, Pope Saint John XXIII.

Archbishop Peña Parra becomes Nuncio to Italy

Archbishop Rudelli succeeds Venezuelan Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra, whom Pope Leo XIV today appointed Apostolic Nuncio to Italy.

Pope Francis had previously appointed Archbishop Peña Parra as Substitute on 15 August 2018, transferring him from Mozambique. Since 2015, he had led the Apostolic Nunciature in that East African country and also participated in a mediation group to restore peace between the national government and an opposition political party.

Born in 1960, a seasoned diplomat with experience in Kenya, the former Yugoslavia, Honduras, and Mexico, and later serving as Pontifical Representative in Pakistan, Archbishop Peña Parra became the second Latin American to hold the post of Substitute, after the Argentine Leonardo Sandri.

Archbishop Rajič becomes Prefect of the Papal Household

Today also sees the appointment of Archbishop Petar Rajič as Prefect of the Papal Household.

The position had been vacant for more than six years, since the departure of Archbishop Georg Gänswein, now Apostolic Nuncio to the Baltic States of Latvia, Estonia, and Lithuania. Rajič himself had served as Nuncio to the same countries from 2019 before arriving in Italy in 2024.

As Prefect, the Archbishop will oversee the work of the Prefecture, a Curial body responsible for the internal order and daily management of the Pope’s life.

Bishop of Charlotte addresses Latin Mass controversy

The Bishop of Charlotte has addressed the controversies surrounding the Traditional Latin Mass in his diocese and given his view on whether restrictions may be relaxed.

Speaking on the “Jesuitical” podcast of America Magazine, Bishop Michael Martin also insisted his actions to curb the TLM were a straightforward implementation of existing Vatican policy and not a matter of personal preference.

During the podcast, when addressing Catholics attached to the TLM, Bishop Martin began with a qualified acknowledgement: “I don’t want to say that they’re some sort of lunatic fringe. They’re not. These are people who feel strongly about the liturgy, and there’s goodness and holiness in that.”

He nevertheless made clear that attachment to the Traditional Latin Mass could not determine diocesan policy, framing his decisions as rooted in obedience to Rome. “All I did was implement Traditionis Custodes in the Diocese of Charlotte,” he said, referring to the 2021 motu proprio of Pope Francis which placed strict limits on the pre-conciliar liturgy.

Further, and appearing to go against Pope Leo XIV’s French letter, Bishop Martin rejected calls to preserve existing celebrations without a defined transition. “If we need more time, then show me what you’re going to do in the next two years so that things will change,” he said, indicating that any continuation would require a clear pastoral trajectory. He contrasted this with what he described as the prevailing response from some of the faithful: “It was simply, ‘We want to celebrate the liturgy this way’.” Such reasoning, he suggested, was insufficient in the context of the Church’s broader liturgical norms.

Bishop Martin also addressed the view, held by some Catholics, that the pontificate after Pope Francis might relax restrictions. “There were those who were saying, ‘Why don’t you just wait?’” he said, before adding his own judgement: “I thought the chances of Pope Leo XIV changing what Pope Francis had done were relatively slim.”

His comments come after sustained controversy in the Diocese of Charlotte following his appointment in 2024. On April 9 of that year, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of Bishop Emeritus Peter Jugis on health grounds and named Bishop Martin as his successor. His episcopal consecration took place on May 29, 2024, at St Mark Catholic Church in Huntersville, joined by Bishop Jugis and Cardinal Christophe Pierre.

The most significant flashpoint came in May 2025, when Bishop Martin reduced the number of locations offering the Traditional Latin Mass from four parish churches to a single chapel. The decision was explicitly tied to the implementation of Traditionis Custodes. Around the same time, leaked diocesan documents suggested further possible restrictions, including limits on the use of Latin in the liturgy and on traditional vestments, as well as proposals affecting the posture of the faithful during Communion.

These tensions intensified later in the year. In September 2025, the bishop prohibited the use of an altar rail at Charlotte Catholic High School. Three months later, in a pastoral letter issued in December, he set out new norms for the reception of Holy Communion across the diocese. From January 16, 2026, altar rails were to be prohibited altogether.

In that letter, Bishop Martin wrote: “The episcopal conference norms logically do not envision the use of altar rails, kneelers, or prie-dieus for the reception of Communion. Doing so is a visible contradiction to the normative posture of Holy Communion established by our episcopal conferences.

“Instead, the instruction emphasises that receiving Holy Communion is to be done as the members of the faithful go in procession, witnessing that the Church journeys forward and receives Holy Communion as a pilgrim people on their way.” He further instructed clergy and lay ministers “not to teach that some other manner is better, preferred, more efficacious, etc”, while also addressing the use of extraordinary ministers and Communion under both kinds.