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Pope Francis has appointed Italian Capuchin friar Roberto Pasolini as preacher of the Papal Household, the Vatican press office announced on November 9, 2024. He succeeds Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa, 90, who has held the post for over 44 years.
Father Roberto Pasolini, born November 5, 1971, in Milan, took his vows with the Capuchins in 2002 and was ordained a priest in 2006. He currently teaches biblical exegesis at the Theological Faculty of Northern Italy in Milan, and collaborates with the Diocese of Milan in the training of teachers of religion, and with the Italian Conference of Major Superiors.
The author of numerous works on spirituality, well known in Italy for his preaching at retreats and spiritual exercises, will be the new voice and face of preaching at the Vatican on Fridays in Advent and Lent.
The preaching of the Good Friday Passion Service in St. Peter's Basilica gives the preacher in the Papal Household worldwide visibility.
Cardinal Cantalamessa's exceptional service
Cardinal Raniero Cantalamessa is retiring at the age of 90 after an exceptionally long period of active service at the Vatican, having held the post for 44 years and being one of the last active figures of John Paul II's pontificate.
Born on July 22, 1934, in Colli del Tronto, in the Marche region, Raniero Cantalamessa entered the Capuchin minor seminary at the end of the Second World War, in 1946.
Ordained a priest in 1958, he went on to study theology in Fribourg, Switzerland, and classics at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Milan.
His literary studies led him to develop a passion for numerous authors, from Blaise Pascal to Paul Claudel and Charles Péguy, who have enriched his reflections and preaching over the years.
His expertise in the study of the New Testament and the Church Fathers also led to his appointment by Paul VI as a member of the International Theological Commission in 1975.
Father Cantalamessa was then called by John Paul II to become Preacher of the Pontifical Household on June 23, 1980.
He was also called upon to preach at the 2005 conclave. Already in his 70s, he remained in his post throughout Benedict XVI's pontificate.
After his election in 2013, Pope Francis kept him in office and created him a cardinal at the consistory of November 28, 2020, a non-elector since he was already 86.
Cantalamessa asked to be dispensed from episcopal ordination: “I wish to die with my Franciscan habit, something they would hardly have allowed me if I had been made a bishop,” he explained at the time in the Italian press.
The cardinal's vast collection of sermons and books have provided fruit for meditation for priests and laity around the world.
