With a chirograph, Pope Francis has approved the new Statutes and Regulations for the Chapter of the Liberian Basilica and entrusted Lithuanian-born Archbishop Rolandas Makrickas with all the faculties to apply the new norms until a new Administrative Council is established. Following the commissioning process assigned to Archbishop Makrickas, who was appointed as the Extraordinary Commissioner in December 2021, Pope Francis completed the restructuring of the Basilica he has visited over a hundred times and where he hopes to be buried someday. In his chirograph, Pope Francis recalled having entrusted Archbishop Makrickas, assisted by a special Commission, with the task of reordering the Chapter and the Basilica, “for the greater good of the people of God.”
For centuries, the Chapter has safeguarded the treasures of St. Mary Major–such as the icon of the Salus Populi Romani (to which the Pope entrusts every Apostolic Journey abroad) and the relic of the Holy Crib–overseen the decorum of liturgical celebrations, and welcomed the faithful making pilgrimages to the basilica.
“Today, at the end of the commissioning process,” wrote the Pope, “I deem it appropriate to relieve the Canons from any economic and administrative responsibilities, so they can fully and with renewed vigour dedicate themselves to the spiritual and pastoral accompaniment that pilgrims from all over the world seek and hope to find, crossing the threshold of the first Marian Shrine of the West.”