NIWA LIMBU
OCT. 3, 2026
Pope Leo XIV has appointed Cardinal Mauro Gambetti Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto. AdVaticanum understands a northern Italian prelate is expected to succeed him at St Peter’s Basilica
The Vatican has confirmed the departure of Cardinal Mauro Gambetti from his posts overseeing St Peter’s Basilica, with Pope Leo XIV appointing him Metropolitan Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto in Italy.
The appointment, published by the Holy See on 3 October, transfers Cardinal Gambetti from the offices of Vicar General of His Holiness for Vatican City, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of St Peter in the Vatican and President of the Fabric of St Peter. His successor as Archpriest of St Peter’s has not been announced.
Pope Leo accepted the resignation of Archbishop Bruno Forte from the pastoral care of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Chieti-Vasto and appointed Cardinal Gambetti, OFM Conv., to succeed him.
Archbishop Forte had announced on 2 October that he would convene an extraordinary Assembly of the People of God at 11.30am on 3 October in the Cathedral of San Giustino in Chieti to communicate “news of great importance for the entire life of the Archdiocese”.
“All of you are invited to attend,” Archbishop Forte wrote to the faithful, asking them to accompany the moment “with prayer” and invoking the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, St Michael, St Justin and all the saints for the archdiocese, the Church and the world.
Gambetti had already told the canons of the Vatican Chapter on Friday that the Holy See would announce his appointment as archbishop the following day. According to Francesco Capozza, Vatican correspondent for Il Tempo, the cardinal convened the meeting himself and confirmed that he was being appointed to a diocese, but declined to identify it “out of respect for protocol and the Holy Father”.
Cardinal Gambetti appeared at the meeting with a noticeable bandage on his head following a recent minor procedure to remove a mole. He did not say who would succeed him at St Peter’s. The expected move to Chieti-Vasto had previously been reported by Dagospia.
The decision comes after a period in which Gambetti’s administration of St Peter’s attracted criticism over security incidents, relations with the basilica’s canons and the centralisation of administrative authority.
AdVaticanum reported exclusively in July that the cardinal was expected to leave, identifying three factors behind a loss of confidence: his handling of St Peter’s Basilica, tensions with the canons of St Peter’s and the initial confidence he placed in Fr Enzo Fortunato.
Cardinal Gambetti, appointed in 2021, had responsibility for the basilica during three incidents in which the Altar of the Confession, beneath Bernini’s baldacchino and over the tomb of St Peter, was desecrated, each followed by a penitential rite of reparation.
On 1 June 2023, a Polish man “stripped naked except for socks and trainers, climbed onto the altar and displayed the words ‘Save children of Ukraine’ written across his back”.
Gambetti led a penitential rite two days later and placed the incident “within the context of the ‘structure of sin’ in the world”.
On 7 February 2025, another man climbed onto the Altar of the Confession, threw six candelabra to the ground, damaging them, and began removing the altar cloth.
On 10 October 2025, a further man climbed onto the altar before hundreds of tourists, undressed and either urinated on it or attempted to do so. Gambetti presided over a rite of reparation on 13 October.
His tenure also involved “a programme of centralising reform”. Associates from his period as Custos of the Sacred Convent of Assisi were brought into senior positions. Under norms introduced during Pope Francis’s pontificate, including transitional rules in 2021 and definitive statutes established by chirograph on 29 June 2024, the Treasury Museum, the sale of religious articles and former Chapter employees were transferred to the Fabric of St Peter.
The canons and coadjutors were placed on a single stipend paid by the Fabric, aligned with level VIII of the Roman Curia scale and unable to be combined with other Vatican remuneration.
Sources close to the canons told AdVaticanum that they believed the Chapter’s autonomy had been significantly reduced as Cardinal Gambetti centralised authority, diminished the canons’ influence and funding and prioritised what one source described as “liberal efficiency”.
One dispute centred on the replacement of long-standing metal chairs with transparent plastic seating. The canons argued that the original chairs formed part of the basilica’s “dignity and historic character”. Gambetti maintained that the metal chairs were damaging the marble floor and that the Fabric had been “spending more than $1 million annually replacing worn marble slabs”. The replacement seating cost “around $200,000”.
The dispute became a symbol of wider disagreements over the administration of St Peter’s and what the canons regarded as the loss of an “established aesthetic and liturgical tradition”.
One source told AdVaticanum at the time: “Some of the reality has been that the canons have really exaggerated things about Cardinal Gambetti. All of that mess, combined with the resentment of the canons, hasn’t done Gambetti any favours.”
Another source said: “Cardinal Gambetti is more of an engineer than a politician, and he’s not good at managing the internal politics. Whereas all these canons are politicians.”
The AdVaticanum report also said multiple sources claimed Pope Francis “did not like the bureaucracy of the Chapter of Canons” and that his desire to sideline it had served a deliberate purpose.
A further source of controversy was Gambetti’s early confidence in Franciscan Fr Enzo Fortunato, who had worked with him at Assisi. Fortunato became head of communications for the basilica and subsequently Special Project Manager.
“Cardinal Gambetti’s confidence in Fr Fortunato led to his appointment to a prominent role at St Peter’s,” the report said. “Many within St Peter’s questioned Fr Fortunato’s approach and his handling of major initiatives, including the organisation of World Children’s Day.”
Sources alleged that “a substantial amount of money was wasted due to Fr Fortunato’s running of World Children’s Day”. They said funds were routed through external Italian associations, including Be Human, rather than Vatican accounts.
A late-2025 balance cited in the report showed approximately €1.2 million in income, €580,000 in expenditure and roughly €650,000 remaining in liquid assets, with about €260,000 subsequently transferred into Vatican-managed accounts after bills had been paid.
Sources cited by AdVaticanum further alleged that, as confidence in Gambetti declined, “Fr Fortunato sought to distance himself from the cardinal and, according to those sources, manoeuvred against him internally”. They also alleged that Fortunato filmed inside Vatican City despite restrictions, including livestreaming Pope Francis during his illness, and was “frequently rude to employees”.
Because several canons closely associated Fortunato with Gambetti, the report said, the association “further damag[ed] the cardinal’s standing”. Fortunato was also expected to leave.
Gambetti will now take charge of the Archdiocese of Chieti-Vasto, while the Vatican has yet to announce who will assume responsibility for St Peter’s Basilica.
(LifeSiteNews) – Bishop Athanasius Schneider, in an interview published Wednesday, responded to Pope Leo XIV’s remarks during a general audience last week about the faithful participating in the Mass less “consciously” before the post-conciliar liturgical reforms by noting that the Novus Ordo Missae deviates significantly from the council’s intended reforms.
During an interview with AdVaticanum published September 2 that mainly focused on the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), Bishop Schneider was asked about Pope Leo’s remarks during an August 26 general audience in which the pontiff suggested that those who attended Traditional Latin Mass (TLM) before the post-conciliar reforms participated as “strangers and silent spectators,” seemingly implying this was because the liturgy was in Latin and was marked by silent parts.
Schneider said the pontiff’s remarks did not grasp the “true reality” of how the overwhelming majority of Novus Ordo Masses are celebrated today. Citing the 1965 Roman Missal, the first missal published after the Council, the bishop emphasized that the Council Fathers had never intended for the Mass to be entirely in the vernacular, as is the case for most Masses celebrated according to the Novus Ordo Missae today.
Schneider further noted that the Council Fathers also would not have envisioned the loss of sacred silence during Mass that he stressed makes it more difficult for the faithful to enter into deep interior prayer and contemplation.
“(T)oday, more than 90 percent of Novus Ordo Masses are in the vernacular. And there are even dioceses where, when priests want to celebrate the Novus Ordo in Latin, they are punished and forbidden. This is an absurdity,” Schneider said.
More: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/bishop-schneider-disputes-pope-leos-claim-of-less-active-participation-at-latin-mass/?utm_source=SOCIAL&fbclid=IwZnRzaAUH1PdwZG9mBWZkaWQWUNxaIZ5oOb5uBr3SemeibFkjU7_duWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkCjY2Mjg1NjgzNzkAAR7hbji16mxZZL14Zqe3njeS4FGXioyTHLYZzKcibFzTvc-Z_QeeQAGF9XKKjA_aem_V6idnVKkncs9S0bo3tKkZw