Pope appoints Cardinal Gambetti as new Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto
Pope Leo XIV appointed Cardinal Mauro Gambetti as Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto in Italy, accepting the resignation of Archbishop Bruno Forte, who has reached the age limit. Gambetti leaves his roles as Vatican City’s vicar general, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, and president of the Fabric of Saint Peter. A Conventual Franciscan from Bologna, Gambetti previously served as Custos of the Sacred Convent of St. Francis in Assisi and was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2020.
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Pope Leo XIV appointed Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, a Conventual Franciscan who has held senior posts at the Vatican since 2021, as archbishop of Chieti-Vasto in Italy’s Abruzzo region. Archbishop Bruno Forte’s resignation was accepted, while the Vatican had not announced a successor to Gambetti at St. Peter’s Basilica. 1 2
The appointment, announced October 3, transfers Gambetti from his roles as vicar general for Vatican City, archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica, and president of the Fabric of St. Peter. Forte, 77, resigned from the pastoral governance of the archdiocese upon reaching the age limit. 1 2
Gambetti had served as archpriest since 2021, overseeing the basilica’s daily administration and presiding at liturgies when the pope was absent. As president of the Fabric of St. Peter, he also led the Vatican office responsible for the basilica’s upkeep; work during his tenure included restoration of Bernini’s baldachin above the main altar. 2
No new archpriest was named alongside the appointment. Bishop Calogero La Piana was identified as the current vicar of the archpriest, who assists in overseeing the basilica. 2
Born in 1965 near Bologna, Gambetti studied mechanical engineering before entering the Conventual Franciscan order in 1992. He later earned degrees in theology, was ordained a priest in 2000, and served as custos of the Sacred Convent of St. Francis in Assisi from 2013 to 2020. 1
Pope Francis appointed him to his Vatican roles in 2021 and created him a cardinal in November 2020. Gambetti was also appointed a judge of the Vatican City State’s Court of Cassation in 2023. 1
Ecclesial authority and pastoral governance in Catholic episcopal appointments
Catholic episcopal appointments express both the unity of the Church under the Bishop of Rome and the local bishop’s genuine responsibility to govern a particular Church. The appointment is not simply a political selection or a delegation of papal administration: it provides a pastor who exercises his own episcopal ministry in hierarchical communion with the Pope and the college of bishops.
Vatican II teaches that the right to nominate and appoint bishops belongs to competent ecclesiastical authority, and it urges that civil authorities relinquish any privileges of election, nomination, presentation, or designation. The stated purpose is to protect the Church’s freedom and serve the faithful’s welfare.
The sources also identify the Roman Pontiff’s authority in this matter. Pius XII states that the Apostolic See judges a candidate’s fitness and that the Roman Pontiff has the right of free nomination, while recognizing that others may participate in selection when the Apostolic See expressly permits it under specified conditions. The Roman Curia’s Congregation for Bishops was assigned responsibility for matters concerning the appointment of bishops and the provision of particular Churches. These texts establish the governing principle, though they do not set out every detail of the present appointment procedure.
Appointment confers neither a merely administrative role nor authority for its own sake. A bishop is appointed as pastor of a particular portion of the People of God, charged to serve its communion through the Gospel and Eucharist. His authority is ordered to building up the faithful in truth and holiness; the episcopal title is understood as a title of service, not a license to dominate.
This also clarifies the relationship between the universal Church and the diocese. A diocesan bishop has ordinary, proper, and immediate authority in his diocese—that is, authority belonging to his office, not merely authority exercised as a papal delegate. But its exercise is subject to universal law and to matters reserved to the Pope or another competent authority.
Central authority does not mean that the Church’s life should be governed without listening to the faithful. John Paul II describes participation, consultation, and shared responsibility as intrinsic to the exercise of episcopal authority, while affirming that the bishop remains responsible for authoritative decisions. Such participation is not a transfer of the Church’s governance to a secular democratic model; it is a way of exercising pastoral authority within ecclesial communion.
Applied to appointments, this supports the importance of prudent consultation and attention to a local Church’s pastoral needs. It does not, on the evidence here, establish that a diocese or its members possess a general right to elect or nominate their bishop. The appointment’s authority remains ecclesiastical, while participation must take whatever form the competent authority permits.
The central balance is therefore neither unchecked centralization nor local election as a general entitlement. The Church’s appointment authority serves unity and pastoral welfare; the bishop who is appointed then governs his diocese with real responsibility, in communion with the Pope and the wider episcopate. His authority is strongest when exercised as service and with appropriate listening to the people entrusted to his care.