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At 9.30 this morning, Holy Thursday, in the Vatican Basilica, the Holy Father Leo XIV presided over the Holy Chrism Mass, the liturgy celebrated on this day in all Cathedral churches.

The Chrism Mass was concelebrated by the Holy Father with the cardinals, bishops, and priests (diocesan and religious) present in Rome.

During the Eucharistic celebration, the priests renewed the vows made at the time of their holy ordination; this was followed by the blessing of the oil for the sick, the oil of catechumens and the chrism.

The following is the homily delivered by the Pope after the proclamation of the Holy Gospel:

 

Homily of the Holy Father

Dear brothers and sisters ,

We are now on the threshold of the Easter Triduum. Once again, the Lord will lead us to the culmination of his mission, so that his passion, death and resurrection may become the heart of our mission. What we are about to relive, in fact, possesses the power to transform what human pride generally tends to harden: our identity and our place in the world. Jesus’ freedom changes hearts, heals wounds, refreshes and brightens our faces, reconciles and gathers us together, and forgives and raises us up.

In this, my first year presiding over the Chrism Mass as Bishop of Rome, I would like to reflect with you on the mission to which God calls us as his people. It is the Christian mission, the very same as Jesus’, not another. Each of us takes part in it according to our own vocation in a deeply personal obedience to the voice of the Spirit, yet never without others, never neglecting or breaking communion! Bishops and priests, as we renew our promises, we are at the service of a missionary people. Together with all the baptized, we are the Body of Christ, anointed by his Spirit of freedom and consolation, the Spirit of prophecy and unity.

What Jesus experiences at the culminating moments of his mission is foreshadowed by the passage from Isaiah, which he quoted in the synagogue at Nazareth as the word that is fulfilled “today” (cf.  Lk  4:21). Indeed, at the hour of Easter, it becomes definitively clear that God consecrates in order to send.  “He has sent me” ( Lk  4:18), says Jesus, describing that movement which binds his Body to the poor, to prisoners, to those groping in the dark and to those who are oppressed. We, as members of his Body, speak of a Church that is “apostolic,” sent out, driven beyond itself, and consecrated to God in the service of his creatures. “As the Father has sent me, so I send you” ( Jn  20:21).

We know that being sent entails, first and foremost, a  detachment , that is, the risk of leaving behind what is familiar and certain, in order to venture into something new. It is interesting that “with the power of the Spirit” ( Lk  4:14), who descended upon him after his baptism in the Jordan, Jesus returned to Galilee and came “to Nazareth, where he had been brought up” ( Lk  4:16).  It is the place he must now leave behind. He moves “as was his custom” (v. 16), but to usher in a new era. He must now leave that village for good, so that what has taken root there, Sabbath after Sabbath, through faithful listening to the word of God, may come to fruition. Likewise, he will call others to set out, to take risks, so that no place becomes a prison, no identity a hiding place.

Dear friends, we follow Jesus who “did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, but emptied himself” ( Phil  2:6-7). Every mission begins with that kind of self-emptying in which everything is reborn. Our dignity as sons and daughters of God cannot be taken from us, nor can it be lost, but neither can the affections, places, and experiences at the start of our lives be erased. We are heirs to so much good and, at the same time, to the limitations of a history into which the Gospel must bring light and salvation, forgiveness and healing. Thus, there is no mission without reconciliation with our past, with the gifts and limitations of the upbringing we have received; but, at the same time, there is no peace without setting out, no awareness without detachment, no joy without risk. We are the Body of Christ if we move forward, coming to terms with the past without being imprisoned by it: everything is restored and multiplied if it is first let go, without fear. This is a fundamental secret of mission. It is not something that is experienced just once, but in every new beginning, in every new sending forth.

Jesus’ journey reveals to us that the willingness to lose oneself, to empty oneself, is not an end in itself, but a condition for encounter and intimacy.  Love is true only when it is unguarded; it requires little fuss, no ostentation, and gently cherishes weakness and vulnerability. We struggle to commit ourselves to a mission that exposes us in this way, and yet there is no “good news to the poor” (cf.  Lk  4:18) if we go to them bearing the signs of power, nor is there authentic liberation unless we free ourselves from attachment. Here we touch upon a second secret of the Christian mission. After detachment comes the law of  encounter . We know that throughout history, mission has not infrequently been distorted by a desire for domination, entirely foreign to the way of Jesus Christ.  Saint John Paul II  had the clarity and courage to recognize that “because of the bond which unites us to one another in the Mystical Body, all of us, though not personally responsible and without encroaching on the judgment of God who alone knows every heart, bear the burden of the errors and faults of those who have gone before us.”  [1]

Consequently, it is now a priority to remember that neither in the pastoral sphere nor in the social and political spheres can good come from abuse of power. The great missionaries bear witnesses to quiet, unobtrusive approaches, whose method is the sharing of life, selfless service, the renunciation of any calculated strategy, dialogue and respect. It is the way of the Incarnation, which always takes the form of inculturation. Salvation, in fact, can only be received by each person through his or her native language. “How is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language?” (  Acts  2:8). The surprise of Pentecost is repeated when we do not presume to control God’s timing, but place our trust in the Holy Spirit, who “is present, even today, as in the time of Jesus and the Apostles: is present and at work, arriving before us, working harder than us and better than us; it is not for us to sow or awaken him, but first and foremost to recognize him, welcome him, go along with him, make way for him, and follow him. He is present and has never lost heart regarding our times; on the contrary, he smiles, dances, penetrates, engulfs, envelops, and reaches even where we would never have imagined.”  [2]

To establish this harmony with the transcendent, we must go where we are sent with simplicity, respecting the mystery that every person and every community carries within them. As Christians, we are guests. This is also true if we are bishops, priests, or men and women religious. To be hosts, in fact, we must learn to be guests ourselves. Even the places where secularization seems most advanced are not lands to be conquered or reconquered: “New cultures are constantly being born in these vast new expanses where Christians are no longer the customary interpreters or generators of meaning. Instead, they themselves take from these cultures new languages, symbols, messages and paradigms which propose new approaches to life, approaches often in contrast with the Gospel of Jesus… It must reach the places where new narratives and paradigms are being formed, bringing the word of Jesus to the inmost soul of our cities.”  [3]  This happens only if we walk together as the Church, if mission is not a heroic adventure reserved for a few, but the living witness of a Body with many members.

There is also a third dimension, perhaps the most radical, of the Christian mission. The dramatic  possibility of misunderstanding and rejection , which is already seen in the violent reaction of the people of Nazareth to Jesus’ words. “When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage.  They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff” ( Lk  4:28-29). Although the liturgical reading has omitted this part, what we are about to celebrate this evening calls on us not to flee, but to “pass through” the trial, just as Jesus did. Jesus “passed through the midst of them and went on his way” ( Lk  4:30). The cross is part of the mission: the sending becomes more bitter and frightening, but also more freeing and transformative. The imperialist occupation of the world is thus disrupted from within; the violence that until now has been the law is unmasked. The poor, imprisoned, rejected Messiah descends into the darkness of death, yet in so doing he brings a new creation to light.

How many “resurrections” are we called to experience when, free from a defensive attitude, we immerse ourselves in service like a seed in the earth! In life, we may face situations where everything seems to be over. We then ask ourselves whether the mission has been in vain. While it is true that, unlike Jesus, we also experience failures that stem from our own shortcomings or those of others, often from a tangled web of responsibilities of light and shadow, we can make the hope of many witnesses our own. I recall one who is particularly dear to me. A month before his death, in his notebook for the Spiritual Exercises, the holy Bishop Óscar Romero wrote: ‘The nuncio in Costa Rica has warned me of an imminent danger this very week… These unforeseen circumstances will be faced with God’s grace. Jesus Christ helped the martyrs and, if the need arises, I shall feel him very close when I entrust my last breath to him. But, more than the final moment of life, what matters is to give him one’s whole life and to live for him… It is enough for me, to be happy and confident, to know with certainty that in him is my life and my death; that, despite my sins, I have placed my trust in him and I shall not be disheartened, for others will continue, with greater wisdom and holiness, the work for the Church and for the homeland.”

Dearest sisters and brothers, the saints make history. This is the message of Revelation: “Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne” ( Rev  1:4).  This greeting encapsulates Jesus’ journey in a world torn apart by the powers that ravage it. Within it arises a new people, not of victims, but of witnesses. In this dark hour of history, it has pleased God to send us to spread the fragrance of Christ where the stench of death reigns. Let us renew our “yes” to this mission that calls for unity and brings peace. Yes, we are here! Let us overcome the sense of powerlessness and fear! We proclaim your death, O Lord, and we proclaim your resurrection, as we await your coming.

 _______________________________________

[1] John Paul II, Bull of Indiction of the Great Jubilee of 2000  Incarnationis Mysterium  (29 November 1998), 11.

[2] C.M. Martini,  Three Tales of the Spirit , Milan 1997, 11.

[3] Francis, Apostolic Exhortation  Evangelii Gaudium  (24 November 2013), 73-74.

At 17.30 this afternoon, Holy Thursday, the Holy Father Leo XIV presided over the Vespertine Mass in Coena Domini , the beginning of the Easter Triduum.

During the liturgy, the Pope performed the ritual of the washing of the feet of twelve priests of the diocese of Rome.

At the end of the celebration, the Blessed Sacrament was taken to the Chapel of Repose.

The following is the homily delivered by the Pope, after the proclamation of the Holy Gospel:

 

Homily of the Holy Father

Dear brothers and sisters ,

This evening’s solemn liturgy marks our entry into the Holy Triduum of the Lord’s Passion, Death and Resurrection. We cross this threshold not as mere spectators, nor out of habit, but as those personally invited by Jesus himself as guests at the Supper in which bread and wine become for us the sacrament of salvation. Indeed, we take part in a banquet at which Christ “having loved his own who were in the world, loved them to the end” ( Jn  13:1). His love becomes both gesture and nourishment for all, revealing the justice of God. In this world, and particularly in those places where evil abounds, Jesus loves definitively — forever, and with his whole being.

During this Last Supper, he washes the feet of his apostles, saying: “I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you” ( Jn  13:15). The Lord’s gesture is inseparable from the table to which he has invited us. This gesture is a concrete  example  that flows from the  sacrament : while revealing the meaning of the Eucharistic mystery, it also entrusts to us a task — a mission that we are called to take up as nourishment for our lives. John the Evangelist chooses the Greek word  upódeigma  to describe the event he witnessed: it means “that which is shown before your eyes.” What the Lords shows us — taking the water, the basin and the towel — is far more than a moral example. He entrusts to us his very way of life. The washing of the feet is a gesture that encapsulates the revelation of God: an exemplary sign of the Word made flesh, his unmistakable memorial. By taking on the condition of a servant, the Son reveals the Father’s glory, overturning the worldly standards that so often distort our conscience.

Along with the silent astonishment of his disciples, even human pride cannot remain blind to what is taking place. Like Peter, who at first resisted Jesus’ initiative, we too must “learn repeatedly that God’s greatness is different from our idea of greatness… because we systematically desire a God of success and not of the Passion” ( Homily   at Mass of the Lord’s Supper , 20 March 2008). These words of  Pope Benedict XVI  candidly acknowledge that we are always tempted to seek a God who “serves” us, who grants us victory, who proves useful like wealth or power. Yet we fail to perceive that God does indeed  serve  us through the gratuitous and humble gesture of washing feet. This is the true omnipotence of God. In this way, his desire to devote himself to those whose very existence depends upon his gift is fulfilled. Out of love, the Lord kneels to wash each one of us, and his divine gift transforms us.

Indeed, through this act, Jesus purifies not only our image of God — from the idolatry and blasphemy that have distorted it — but also our image of humanity. For we tend to consider ourselves powerful when we dominate, victorious when we destroy our equals, great when we are feared. In contrast, as true God and true man, Christ offers us the example of self-giving, service and love. We need his example to learn how to love, not because we are incapable of it, but precisely to teach ourselves and one another what true love is. Learning to act like Jesus — the living sign that God has placed within the history of the world — is the work of a lifetime.

He is the true measure, the “Teacher and Lord” ( Jn  13:13) who removes every divine and human mask. He offers his example not when all are content and devoted to him, but on the night he was betrayed, in the darkness of incomprehension and violence. In this way, it becomes clear that the Lord’s love precedes our own goodness or purity; he loves us first, and in that love, he forgives and restores us. His love is not a reward for our acceptance of his mercy; instead, he loves us, and therefore cleanses us, thereby enabling us to respond to his love.

Let us, then, learn from Jesus this reciprocal service. He does not ask us to repay him, but to share his gift among ourselves: “You also ought to wash one another’s feet” ( Jn  13:14). As Pope Francis once remarked: this “is a duty which comes from my heart: I love it. I love this and I love to do it because that is what the Lord has taught me to do” ( Homily at Mass of the Lord’s Supper , 28 March 2013). He was not speaking of an abstract imperative, nor of a formal and empty command, but expressing his heartfelt obedience to the charity of Christ, which is both the source and the model of our own charity. Indeed, the example given by Jesus cannot be imitated out of convenience, reluctance or hypocrisy, but only out of love.

Allowing ourselves to be served by the Lord is therefore the necessary condition for serving as he did. “Unless I wash you”, Jesus said to Peter, “you have no share in me” ( Jn  13:8): unless you accept me as your servant, you cannot truly believe in me or follow me as Lord. By washing our bodies, Jesus purifies our souls. In him, God has given us an example — not of how to dominate, but of how to liberate; not of how to destroy life, but of how to give it.

As humanity is brought to its knees by so many acts of brutality, let us too kneel down as brothers and sisters alongside the oppressed. In this way, we seek to follow the Lord’s example, fulfilling what we have heard from the book of Exodus: “This day shall be a day of remembrance for you” (12:14). Indeed, the whole of biblical history converges in Jesus, the true Passover lamb. In him, the ancient figures find their fulfilment, for Christ the Savior accomplishes the Passover of humanity, opening for all the passage from sin to forgiveness, from death to eternal life: “This is my body which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me” ( 1 Cor  11:24).

By renewing the Lord’s gestures and words this very evening, we commemorate the institution of the Eucharist and of Holy Orders. The intrinsic bond between these two sacraments reveals the perfect self-gift of Jesus, the High Priest and living, eternal Eucharist. For in the consecrated bread and wine lies “a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is received, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us” (Dogmatic Constitution  Sacrosantum Concilium , 4 December 1963, 47). Through bishops and priests, constituted as “priests of the New Covenant” according to the Lord’s command (Council of Trent;  De Missae Sacrificio,  1), there is made present the sign of his charity towards the whole People of God. Beloved brothers in the priesthood, we are called to serve the People of God with our whole lives.

Holy Thursday is therefore a day of fervent gratitude and authentic fraternity. May this evening’s Eucharistic adoration, in every parish and community, be a time to contemplate Jesus’ gesture, kneeling as he did, and to ask for the strength to imitate his service with the same love.

Resignation and appointment of bishop of Rockhampton, Australia

Appointment of director of the Holy See Directorate for Human Resources of the Secretariat for the Economy

 

Resignation and appointment of bishop of Rockhampton, Australia

The Holy Father has accepted the resignation from the pastoral care of the diocese of Rockhampton, Australia, presented by Bishop Michael F. McCarthy.

The Holy Father has appointed Bishop Daniel J. Meagher, until now titular of Pocofelto and auxiliary of Sydney, as bishop of the diocese of Rockhampton, Australia.

Curriculum vitae

Bishop Daniel J. Meagher was born on 10 November 1961 in Sydney. After his studies at Saint Ignatius College in Riverview, he was awarded a bachelor’s degree in economics and civil law from Sydney University. Before entering the Good Shepherd Seminary of the metropolitan archdiocese of Sydney, he worked as a lawyer. He then obtained a degree in theology from Saint Patrick’s College and a licentiate in fundamental theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University of Rome.

He was ordained a priest on 22 July 1995 for the metropolitan archdiocese of Sydney.

He was appointed titular bishop of Pocofelto and auxiliary of the metropolitan archdiocese of Sydney on 18 November 2021, receiving episcopal ordination on the following 8 December.

 

Appointment of director of the Holy See Directorate for Human Resources of the Secretariat for the Economy

The Holy Father has appointed Dr. Paola Fanelli as director of the Directorate for Human Resources of the Secretariat for the Economy.

Curriculum vitae

Dr. Fanelli holds a degree in operational research from Bocconi University in Milan. At Accenture , she worked on organizational change and the redesign of human resources processes across various industrial sectors. At Mediocredito Centrale , she managed, as programme manager, the merger between Banco di Sicilia and Sicilcassa . In 1999, she became deputy general manager of Cassa di Risparmio di Pescara (Pescara Savings Bank), leading innovation in processes, resources and information systems. Subsequently, within the BNL BNP Paribas Group, she held key roles in people and change management, communications and corporate social responsibility. She has combined her managerial career with extensive academic and public engagement experience.

This morning, the Holy Father received in audience:

- Archbishop Filippo Iannone, O.Carm., prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops;

- Her Excellency Ms. Johanna Gerarda Maria Ruigrok, ambassador of the Netherlands, on his farewell visit.

The following is the text of the Pope’s video with the prayer intention for the month of April, disseminated via the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, on the theme: For priests in crisis:

 

Video of the Holy Father

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amén.

Lord Jesus,

Good Shepherd and companion on the journey,

today we place in your hands all priests,

especially those going through moments of crisis,

when loneliness weighs heavily,

when doubt clouds their hearts,

and when exhaustion seems stronger than hope.

You who know their struggles and wounds,

renew in them the certainty of your unconditional love.

Let them feel they are not mere functionaries or lonely heroes,

but beloved sons, humble and cherished disciples,

and pastors sustained by the prayer of their people.

Good Father,

teach us as a community to care for our priests:

to listen without judging,

to give thanks without demanding perfection,

to share with them the baptismal mission

of proclaiming the Kingdom in word and deed,

and to accompany them with closeness and sincere prayer.

May we support those who so often support us.

Holy Spirit,

Rekindle in our priests the joy of the Gospel.

Grant them healthy friendships, networks of fraternal support,

a sense of humor when things don’t go as expected,

and the grace to always rediscover the beauty of their vocation.

May they never lose trust in You,

nor the joy of serving your Church with a humble and generous heart.

Amen.