Pope Leo sends Gambetti to Chieti, removing the cardinal who 'governed' St. Peter's.

Pope Leo XIV has appointed Cardinal Mauro Gambetti as Archbishop of Chieti-Vasto. The Conventual friar, former custodian of the Sacred Convent of Assisi, was elevated to cardinal by Pope Francis on November 28, 2020. He is thus leaving St. Peter's Basilica, where he has been archpriest since February 20, 2021, as well as the presidency of the Fabbrica di San Pietro and his role as Vicar General of His Holiness for the Vatican City State. Gambetti will assume his new role on November 29. The political and ecclesiastical nature of the appointment is difficult to disguise. It is an appointment that has the flavor of a removal, of a promoveatur ut amoveatur: Gambetti is a cardinal who governed the basilica built over the tomb of the Apostle, with its own administration, a Chapter, and hundreds of employees, and is now leading a diocese far from Rome, until now governed by Msgr. Bruno Forte. 

Rumors about Cardinal Gambetti's removal have been circulating for some time. Today, the Pope has decided to transfer the cardinal to a post far from Rome, in the Archdiocese of Chieti, to replace Msgr. Bruno Forte, who is retiring. Cardinal Mauro Gambetti was born on October 27, 1965, in Castel San Pietro Terme (Bologna). After graduating in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Bologna, he entered the Order of Friars Minor Conventual in 1992. He professed temporary vows in 1995 and perpetual vows in 1998. 

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After earning a Bachelor's degree in Theology from the Theological Institute of Assisi – the Vatican recalls in the biographical notes released on Cardinal Gambetti – he obtained a Licentiate in Theological Anthropology from the Theological Faculty of Central Italy in Florence. He was ordained a priest on January 8, 2000, in Longiano (Forlì-Cesena). He has held various positions: Youth and Vocation Ministry Leader for Emilia-Romagna (2000-2009) and Head and Leader of the Religious Community (Guardian) (2005-2009) at the Convent of the Most Holy Crucifix; Provincial Minister of the Bolognese Province of Saint Anthony of Padua (2009-2013); General Custodian of the General Custody of the Sacred Convent of Saint Francis in Assisi (2013-2017); at the same time, the Bishop of Assisi-Nocera Umbra-Tadino appointed him Episcopal Vicar for the pastoral care of the Papal Basilica of St. Francis and of the other places of worship governed by the Friars Minor Conventual in the same Diocese. 

In 2017, he was elected President of the Intermediterranean Federation of Ministers Provincial of the Friars Minor Conventual. He was then reappointed as General Custos of the General Custody of the Sacred Convent of Saint Francis in Assisi for the four-year term 2017-2021, a position he held until October 31, 2020. On October 30, 2020, he was assigned the titular see of Tisiduo with the personal title of Archbishop and received episcopal consecration on November 22, 2020, at the Basilica of Saint Francis in Assisi. Pope Francis created and proclaimed him Cardinal in the consistory of November 28, 2020, of the Deaconry of the Most Holy Name of Mary in the Trajan Forum, and on February 20, 2021, he appointed him Vicar General of His Holiness for the Vatican City, Archpriest of the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican, and President of the Fabric of Saint Peter. Furthermore, on June 2, 2023 – effective January 1, 2024 – Pope Francis appointed him Judge of the Court of Cassation of the Vatican City State. He is a member of the Dicastery for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life. 

(Adnkronos)