Archbishop Viola appointed Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica
October 10, 2026
Pope Leo XIV today named Archbishop Francesco Viola, O.F.M., the secretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, as the new Archpriest of St. Peter’s Basilica.
Archbishop Viola succeeds Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, O.F.M. Conv., whom Pope Leo transferred last week to a small Italian archdiocese.
Pope Leo also appointed Archbishop Viola to two other positions previously held by Cardinal Gambetti: vicar general of His Holiness for the Vatican City State, and president of the Fabric of Saint Peter, which oversees the basilica’s employees and maintenance.
Borni in 1965, Archbishop Viola made his solemn profession in the Franciscan order in 1991 and was ordained to the priesthood in 1993. He ministered in Assisi for many years while concurrently serving as a professor of liturgy at the Anselmianum in Rome.
In 2014, Pope Francis appointed him bishop of Tortona, Italy; in 2021, the late Pontiff named him the secretary, or second-ranking official, of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
The Catholic Herald reported that Archbishop Viola “is known for his staunch opposition to the traditional [Latin] Mass. Indeed, Viola was reported as having written another document restricting the traditional Mass even more harshly than Traditionis Custodes,” Pope Francis’s 2021 apostolic letter.
Pope Leo today also appointed Bishop Aurelio García Macías, undersecretary of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, as the dicastery’s new secretary.
Born in 1965 and ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Valladolid, Spain, in 1992, García Macías earned his doctorate at the Anselmianum and was the rector of the seminary in his native diocese. In 2015, he became an official of the dicastery. Six years ago, Pope Francis appointed him undersecretary, and he received his episcopal consecration.
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Further information:
- Resignations and Appointments (Holy See Press Office, 10/10/26)
- Divine Worship secretary named new Archpriest of the Vatican (The Catholic Herald, 10/10/26)
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