Vatican City – This year the Holy Father Leo XIV has decided that the spiritual exercises of the Roman Curia, in which he too will take part, will be held in the Pauline Chapel of the Apostolic Palace. In the past, the preaching took place in the Redemptoris Mater Chapel, a space that allowed the presence of a good number of prelates and also enabled the Pope and his secretaries to follow the meditations from the right-hand side area, beside the altar.
With Pope Francis the format was changed: it was preferred to move the entire Curia to Ariccia, with significant logistical costs for the Holy See. Subsequently, as internal tensions emerged, this arrangement also became more fragile in practical and relational terms: staying in Ariccia for days inevitably exposed people to a face-to-face encounter with the whole curial structure. For this reason Francis began to absent himself from these moments.
Leo XIV chose to bring the exercises back into the Apostolic Palace, but the Redemptoris Mater Chapel is now no longer usable (for obvious reasons linked to the mosaics). For this reason the choice fell on the Pauline Chapel. The first meditation is scheduled for 5 pm on Saturday 22 February 2026; the conclusion for 9 am on Friday 27 February 2026.
The Pauline Chapel (dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul)
Born as a palatine “parva” chapel, in contrast to the Sistine Chapel, it has historically been linked to the custody of the Blessed Sacrament and to the Pope’s prayer. It is not normally accessible to the public; during the conclave it is also the place from which the procession of the cardinal electors sets out towards the Sistine, and it is one of the spaces in which the newly elected Pope pauses in prayer. Here Francis stopped “a little longer than he should have” in 2013. Its history begins with Paul III, who wished for its construction: the project was entrusted to Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, with works begun in 1537 and completed in 1540; the chapel was consecrated in January 1540. Immediately afterwards, Michelangelo Buonarroti produced the two great opposing frescoes, the Conversion of Saul and the Crucifixion of Peter, the iconographic heart of the place. The decoration was then completed under Gregory XIII, with the interventions, among others, of Lorenzo Sabatini and Federico Zuccari.
Over the centuries the Pauline has undergone various interventions, but the last major restoration – the one that returned the chapel to liturgical use after years of works – is the 2002–2009 cycle: a complex undertaking, carried out within the ambit of the Vatican Museums, directed by Arnold Nesselrath and with a central role for Maestro Maurizio De Lucaon the Michelangelo murals. In that phase, the 1970s arrangement was also removed (linked to the post-conciliar liturgical reform and to Paul VI’s intervention), restoring solutions more consistent with the historic space: the recomposition of the marble altar, the removal of the carpeting, and the recovery of original architectural and chromatic elements. The reopening to worship took place on 4 July 2009 with the celebration of Vespers presided over by Benedict XVI. In the homily, the Pope explained the meaning of that moment: «my desire to be able to reopen the Pauline Chapel for worship». He then placed the Pauline “at the heart” of the Apostolic Palace, recalling its destination as a reserved place of prayer for the Pope and for the Papal Household, and thanking those who had made the restoration possible.
G.M.
Silere non possum