Vatican City – Pope Leo XIV will return to celebrating the Mass of the Lord’s Supper (in Coena Domini) with the rite of the washing of the feet in the Basilica of St John Lateran, the cathedral of the Bishop of Rome. The celebration is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, 2 April, marking a decision that brings Holy Thursday back to the ecclesial place which, by tradition and law, represents the heart of the Diocese of Rome.
On the morning of the same day, the Pontiff will preside in St Peter’s Basilica at the Chrism Mass with the priests of the Diocese of Rome. It is a liturgical rhythm that restores the unity of the day’s meaning: the morning centred on the holy oils and the priestly ministry; the afternoon in the cathedral, with the evangelical gesture of the washing of the feet, carried out by the Bishop with his people.
The decision fits within a trajectory of greater ecclesial centrality for the celebrations of Holy Week. In recent years, in fact, Pope Francis had chosen to spend the afternoon of Holy Thursday away from the cathedral, celebrating the rite in penal institutions. A pastoral choice strong on a symbolic level, but one that also led to a progressive distancing of the diocese’s central liturgy from its proper place.
With Leo XIV, Holy Thursday is once again lived with the Diocese of Rome in its entirety: in communion with the priests in the morning and in the cathedral in the afternoon, where the memory of prisoners and of the ecclesial peripheries remains present in prayer and pastoral intention, without shifting the liturgical axis.
Spiritual exercises of the Roman Curia
The same perspective also informs the choice regarding the spiritual exercises of the Roman Curia. From 22 to 27 February 2026, the annual retreat will take place in the Apostolic Palace. In previous years, Pope Francis had preferred to hold them at the Casa Divin Maestro, with a significant use of logistical and economic resources. The return to the Apostolic Palace restores to the spiritual exercises their essential character of silence, prayer, and recollection, avoiding superfluous expenses and simplifying the organisation of the Curia.
The decision takes on additional significance in light of the Pope’s definitive move to the Apostolic Palace, expected in these weeks. A residential stability that fosters a more orderly rhythm of life, greater personal serenity, and a deeper concentration on the ministry of spiritual leadership of the universal Church. Taken together, these choices outline a style of governance that aims at sobriety, the centrality of ecclesial places, and the recomposition of the bond between the Bishop of Rome and his diocese. This is not a simple return to previous practices, but an approach that relocates liturgy, prayer, and administration within a framework of greater ecclesial coherence and responsibility in the use of resources.
fr.M.C.
Silere non possum