Reassignment to Chieti-Vasto

Pope Leo XIV accepted the resignation of Archbishop Bruno Forte on 3 October 2026 and appointed Cardinal Mauro Gambetti as the new archbishop of Chieti-Vasto. The decision transfers Gambetti away from his offices as Archpriest of Saint Peter's Basilica, President of the Fabric of Saint Peter, and Vicar General of His Holiness for Vatican City State. Gambetti, who was born on 27 October 1965 in Castel San Pietro Terme, will officially assume governance of the archdiocese on 29 November 2026. The transfer relocates the 60-year-old cardinal from managing the central administration, Chapter, and staff of Saint Peter's to a diocesan see in central Italy. Gambetti informed the basilica's chapter of canons about his impending transfer one day before the Vatican publication, without disclosing his destination.

Administrative tenure and background at Saint Peter's

Pope Francis created Gambetti a cardinal on 28 November 2020 and named him Archpriest of Saint Peter's on 20 February 2021 to succeed Cardinal Angelo Comastri. Gambetti holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Bologna and entered the Order of Friars Minor Conventual in 1992, later completing theological degrees in Assisi and Florence before his priestly ordination in 2000. He served as Provincial Minister in Bologna from 2009 to 2013 and Custos General of the Sacred Convent of Assisi from 2013 to 2020. During his five years overseeing Saint Peter's, Gambetti directed administrative reforms, including a 2024 statute that established the Chapter's public legal status, capped canons at 24, and restructured compensation. His tenure faced internal pushback over governance, plans for a visitor cafe on the basilica terraces, and reassigning the local parish from Augustinian to Franciscan clergy.

Regional response and Bruno Forte's retirement

The transfer concludes the 22-year diocesan episcopate of Bruno Forte, who was appointed by Pope John Paul II and served as a prominent theologian during the pontificate of Pope Francis. Forte will retire to Naples following the transition. Bishop Camillo Cibotti, president of the Episcopal Conference of Abruzzo and Molise, commended Forte's decades of leadership, referencing Marian shrines in Chieti, Casalbordino, and Vasto.

“From the very first moment, he was among us as Father Bruno: that is how he was always familiarly called, and that is how he is recognized by all.”

Cibotti formally welcomed Gambetti to the region, noting the spiritual connection of Abruzzo to Saint Francis of Assisi ahead of the saint's annual feast.

Successor deliberation in the Curia

The Holy See did not name a replacement for the archpriest position at Saint Peter's alongside Gambetti's reassignment. Bishop Corrado Sanguineti of Pavia emerged as a leading candidate in Curial deliberations. Pope Leo XIV, elected nearly a year and a half earlier, celebrated liturgy with Sanguineti in February 2024 at the tomb of Saint Augustine in Pavia and received him in a private audience in Rome in early September 2026. Other names circulated in Curial discussions include former papal master of ceremonies Guido Marini, Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, and Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas.