Four new auxiliary bishops were ordained for the Diocese of Rome by Pope Leo XIV on May 2, 2026, at the Basilica of St John Lateran, Rome’s cathedral. In his homily, the pontiff called on them to "care for those whom society has rejected and continues to reject."
Each of these new bishops will be entrusted with one of the five sectors of the Diocese of Rome (center, north, south, east and west). The fifth sector is entrusted to Bishop Renato Tarantelli Baccari, who has been an auxiliary bishop of the diocese since 2024. Cardinal Baldo Reina, Vicar General of the Diocese of Rome, was also present in the Basilica of St John Lateran to take part in these ordinations.
At 70, Bishop Stefano Sparapani is the eldest of these four new bishops. Until now, he was parish priest of St Basil’s and episcopal vicar for the northern sector of Rome. Bishop Alessandro Zenobbi was parish priest of St Lucy’s and a member of the presbyteral council. He had previously been responsible for the western sector of the diocese as an episcopal vicar.
Bishop Andrea Carlevale was parish priest of the parish of St John the Baptist in Rossi. Finally, Bishop Marco Valenti was a member of the diocesan presbyteral council and parish priest of the parish of the Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ.
A field hospital
Addressing his Church of Rome, Leo XIV recalled that “the rejected stone is at the heart of the messianic proclamation” during his homily. He thus called for care to be taken of “those whom society has rejected and continues to reject.”
“May the poor of Rome […] find in the inhabitants of this city […] that motherly love which is the authentic face of the Church,” prayed the Pope.
Jesus Christ overturned the logic of domination of those who “pursue the senseless ambition of determining the architecture of the earth”; he restored dignity to those who were rejected.
Leo XIV encouraged the four new bishops to find "the rejected stones of this city and proclaim to them that in Christ […] no one is excluded." He urged them to be “street pastors” with “the material and existential peripheries” in their hearts, making the Church a “field hospital,” as Pope Francis had proposed.
A warning against the privileges offered to bishops
Faced with their new role as bishops, which the 267th pope described as a “new call” and an “additional vocation,” he warned them: “Do not settle into the privileges that your position might offer you; do not follow the worldly logic of the front seats.”
"You will be prophets in your ministry if you are men of peace and unity,” he added.
Finally, the Pontiff asked the bishops to be attentive to the sense of loneliness sometimes felt by “priests, deacons, men and women religious, and laypeople engaged in the apostolate.”
“Help them to rekindle hope in their various ministries and to feel part of the same mission,” he urged them.
After the homily, the four new bishops received the laying on of hands from the Pope and all the bishops present. Following the anointing with oil and the presentation of the Gospel, the new bishops received from Leo XIV the symbols of their episcopal office: the ring, the mitre, and the crosier.
