The cardinal, who appeared with a striking bandage on his head because of a small recent intervention to remove a mole, did not want to pronounce the name of the see “out of respect for the protocol and the Holy Father”, although in Rome no one has the slightest doubt: it is the Abruzzian archdiocese of Chieti-Vasto.
Nor did he mention who will succeed him as archpriest of the Basilica of St. Peter, according to the Vaticanist of Il Tempo Francesco Capozza on his X account, information also collected by the press of the Abruzzo, such as Abruzzo Popolare.
The news ends months of rumors and confirms what Capozza himself had been announcing for a long time.
On Tuesday, September 30, the Roman journalist assured on X that the removal of Gambetti as archpriest of the Vatican Basilica was already "a matter of hours" and that the fate was the one that he himself had advanced months ago: Chieti-Vasto, to which could also join the archdiocese of Lanciano-Ortona in persona episcopi.
Hours before the meeting with the canons, Capozza returned to the charge with a message of unequivocal tone: the nomination would be published on Saturday “except for surprises or subsequent attempts to hold on to the chair”, and added that the Pope has decided to send Pescara to the current deputy manager of Rome, Monsignor Renato Tarantelli Baccari.
What Il Tempo has been counting since the summer of 2025
The Roman newspaper was the first to publicly link the figure of Gambetti to the discontent of the new pontiff. In an extensive analysis published on August 25, 2025 under the title “Papa Leone, with the silenzious rivoluzione comincia (ora) l’era Prevost”, Capozza described the intention of Leo XIV to dismantle the network of Jesuits and Franciscans that Francis had installed in the Vatican, starting with the arch-weak of St. Peter, “called Rome directly from Assisi”
The article pointed out that the Franciscan, “widely criticized for the extinguished management of the most important church of Catholicity”, had been placed under the magnifying glass of the Pope since the first ceremonies held in the basilica, and that after the relief of his protégé, Father Enzo Fortunato, at the head of the Committee for the World Day of Children, the next to leave would be Gambetti himself.
From Assisi, the Vaticanist concluded, an eloquent warning arrived: “Here to Gambetti we do not want him back.”
Criticism was sharpened in October 2025, when a man managed to circumvent the security of the basilica and pee on the altar of Confession, reserved for the Pope.
Il Tempo then reported that Leo XIV had privately received Gambetti to express his “bewilderment” for what happened and had ordered him to hold a restful penitential rite as soon as possible.
It was one of the sacrilegious episodes that occurred during his term, in which the basilica was associated with security failures and a management more concerned with the administrative reorganization than with preserving the sacred and traditional character of the temple, as collected by InfoVaticana last July.
Five years of tensions with the Chapter
The transfer was in the air since the summer. In July, the AdVaticanum portal assured, with Vatican sources, that Gambetti would leave San Pedro before the end of the summer, and Messa in Latino confirmed with his own sources that the destination would be Chieti-Vasto.
That information attributed the discomfort to the profound changes introduced by the cardinal in the Chapter of St. Peter, which altered secular customs and the traditional character of the institution, and summarized the feeling of many with the observation of a well-informed source: the archpriest had put “liberal efficiency” before tradition.
The reasons for friction included the weight loss of the canons, the management of the Treasure Museum and the staff, and the disputed prohibition on holding individual masses on the side altars.
This same Friday, Messa in Latino took for granted the publication of the payroll on Saturday and pointed a novelty: the union of Chieti-Vasto with Lanciano-Ortona in the person of the bishop, hypothesis that the abruzzan press, such as ChietiToday, has been driving for days but that is still pending official confirmation.
From the Sacred Convent to Purple and from Purple to the Abruzzo
Born on October 27, 1965 in Castel San Pietro Terme (Bologna), Mauro Gambetti is a convent Franciscan and was ordained a priest in 2000. Custodian general of the Holy Convent of Assisi between 2013 and 2020, Francis elevated him to the episcopate on October 30, 2020 and created it cardinal just a month later, at 55, which made him the first cardinal of his order since 1861.
On February 20, 2021, he was appointed vicar general of His Holiness for Vatican City, arch-rest of the papal Basilica of St. Peter and president of the St. Peter’s Factory, positions he has held so far, according to his official biography in the Holy See’s Press Room.
In Chieti-Vasto he will succeed Monsignor Bruno Forte, the Neapolitan theologian who has ruled the archdiocese since 2004 and who, overcoming the retirement age, had announced his intention to collect himself in a convent of his hometown once his successor has been named.
The leap from the most important basilica of Christianity to a headquarters of provinces of just over 350,000 inhabitants marks, in the eyes of much of the curia, the first great correction of the course of Leo XIV on the personal legacy of his predecessor in the Vatican.
The most open unknown for the liturgical life of St. Peter remains to be cleared: who will now occupy the position of arch-new and how lucky will the restrictions imposed by Gambetti in these five years.