Vatican City – Today, 22 January 2026, the Holy Father has appointed His Excellency Monsignor Carlo Roberto Maria Redaelli as Secretary of the Dicastery for the Clergy, transferring to a senior post in the Roman Curia an Italian prelate of the Ambrosian tradition, with a strongly canonical profile and longstanding experience in ecclesial governance. Until now, Redaelli had served as Metropolitan Archbishop of Gorizia.
Born in Milan on 23 June 1956, Redaelli was ordained a priest on 14 June 1980 by the then Archbishop Carlo Maria Martini. He pursued his studies at the Pontifical Gregorian University, obtaining degrees in canon law, and for many years served within the Legal Office of the Archdiocese of Milan, eventually becoming its Advocate General. In 2004he was entrusted with frontline responsibilities in the Ambrosian archdiocese as Vicar General and, in the same year, was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Milan. Since 28 June 2012, he has been Metropolitan Archbishop of Gorizia.
What will the new Secretary’s responsibilities be?
The scope of the Dicastery for the Clergy, as set out in articles 113–120 of Praedicate Evangelium, touches the very core of the Church’s ordinary life, as it directly concerns those who, day by day, sustain diocesan pastoral life: priests and deacons, their formation, and the concrete conditions required for ministry to be exercised in a stable, orderly and fruitful manner. Alongside this, Praedicate Evangelium entrusts the Dicastery with a series of disciplinary and administrative competencies that shape the life of local Churches, affect seminaries, diocesan structures, and numerous juridical profiles which, in practice, determine the quality of ecclesial governance.
First and foremost, the Dicastery deals with everything concerning diocesan clerics, both in their personal status and in their ministerial service: not only what they do, but also how they are able to do it, with which instruments and safeguards, and with what form of ongoing accompaniment. From this perspective, it offers bishops concrete assistance in addressing matters related to pastoral ministry, discipline, and the conditions necessary for the exercise of ministry to be genuinely “fruitful” (art. 113 §1). At the same time, through this Dicastery the Apostolic See expresses its solicitude for formation—not as an abstract theme, but as an institutional, continuous and verifiable responsibilitytowards candidates for Sacred Orders (art. 113 §2).
From here flows a second, decisive area: vocations and seminaries. The Dicastery assists bishops so that dioceses foster a real vocational pastoral care, not a merely formal one, and so that seminaries—erected and governed according to law—ensure a balanced and integral formation: human, spiritual, intellectual and pastoral (art. 114 §1). The point is not merely to propose criteria: insofar as the Holy See is competent, the Dicastery exercises vigilance over the community life and governance of seminaries, verifying their conformity with the requirements of priestly formation. It also underscores an often-overlooked element: formation is conveyed through the example and doctrinal integrity of superiors, educators and formators, who are called to contribute effectively to the maturation of the personality of future ordinands (art. 114 §2–3). This area, in particular, will fall within Monsignor Redaelli’s remit, should Leo XIV choose not to reinstate the former practice of appointing a distinct “Secretary for Seminaries” within the Dicastery.
A third level concerns the normative instruments by which the Church defines how formation is to be carried out and according to which standards. The Dicastery promotes norms and criteria through documents such as the Ratio fundamentalis institutionis sacerdotalis and the Ratio for permanent deacons, while also maintaining attention to the ongoing formation of the clergy (art. 114 §3). Its role is not limited to general guidance: it intervenes concretely in procedures, since it is responsible for confirming the national Rationes prepared by Episcopal Conferences, as well as for the erection of interdiocesan seminaries and the approval of their statutes (art. 114 §4). Where a diocesan seminary is unable to guarantee sufficient quality—whether due to the number of candidates, the calibre of formators, teaching staff, spiritual directors, or facilities—the Dicastery promotes the solution of interdiocesan seminaries as a means of safeguarding adequate formative standards (art. 114 §5).
A fourth area concerns the life and discipline of the clergy. The Dicastery accompanies bishops and Episcopal Conferences on matters relating to the rights and duties of clerics, discipline, and everything connected with the exercise of ministry, while also collaborating in permanent formation (art. 115 §1). It addresses highly concrete issues, including financial support and social security for clergy, recognising that ministerial life cannot remain an abstract ideal but requires just and stable conditions. Moreover, the Dicastery has administrative competence to examine controversies and hierarchical recourses presented by clerics concerning the exercise of ministry (art. 115 §2)—a sector which, in practice, has a direct impact on delicate and often complex cases.
There is also a structural and global issue: the shortage of priests. Praedicate Evangelium acknowledges that in many parts of the world this scarcity is not merely an organisational problem: on the one hand, it limits the access of the People of God to the Eucharist; on the other, it weakens the sacramental structure of the Church itself. For this reason, the Dicastery studies these challenges and encourages bishops and Episcopal Conferences towards a more appropriate distribution of clergy (art. 115 §3).
A further chapter concerns the clerical state. The Dicastery handles, in accordance with canonical norms, matters pertaining to the clerical status of clerics—including members of institutes of consecrated life, societies of apostolic life, and permanent deacons—coordinating with other Dicasteries where necessary (art. 116 §1). It is also competent for cases involving dispensation from the obligations assumed with diaconal or priestly ordination (art. 116 §2): a highly sensitive area, with personal, pastoral and juridical repercussions.
Following the reform, the Dicastery’s competencies have unfortunately been extended to include Opus Dei, over which it exercises the responsibilities proper to the Holy See (art. 117). Within a broader sphere of ecclesial discipline, it also addresses matters concerning diocesan structures and bodies—councils, chapters, parishes and other configurations—as well as associations of clerics and public clerical associations, which in certain cases may be granted the faculty of incardination, following the prescribed procedure and with the approval of the Roman Pontiff (art. 118). Its remit also includes ecclesiastical archives and procedures relating to pious wills and foundations (art. 118). Finally, insofar as the Holy See is concerned, the Dicastery deals with the ordering of ecclesiastical goods, their proper administration, and the necessary licences and authorisations, without prejudice to the competencies of other Dicasteries expressly safeguarded (art. 119). Established within it are the Pontifical Work for Priestly Vocations and a Permanent Interdicasterial Commission for Formation to Sacred Orders, both presided over by the Prefect (art. 120).
Within this framework, the role of the Secretary is particularly delicate and significant. It is an operational nexus that brings together the Dicastery’s daily activity, case management, the implementation of working directives, and the coordination of an area in which pastoral governance, canonical discipline, formation, and administrative procedures intersect—often with a direct impact on the concrete life of dioceses.
After the years in which Monsignor Andrés Gabriel Ferrada Moreira led the Secretariat of the Dicastery - from 2021 to 31 October 2025 - an impression had gradually taken root around Piazza Pio XII of an office that had become increasingly opaque: petitions left unanswered, privileged informal channels, and decisions bypassing ordinary procedures to reach Santa Marta directly. For this reason, a different climate is now being noted. Many speak openly of a sense of relief, convinced that the arrival of a canon lawyer well acquainted with the Italian Church, and already tested by complex and sensitive dossiers, may help restore method, transparency, and a minimum of institutional order to a Dicastery which, by its very nature, cannot afford shortcuts or favouritism.
fr.E.R.
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