In 2017 he was a spiritual assistant to the Don Andrea Santoro Association, which marks the anniversary of the assassination in Turkey in 2006 of Andrea Santoro, an Italian priest and seminary classmate of De Donatis.[6] De Donatis has maintained a connection with his hometown by leading spiritual exercises annually during the summer at the Crypt of the Crucifix in Casarano.[7]
He was among seven Roman priests chosen by Archbishop Giovanni Angelo Becciu to eat lunch with Pope Francis after the Chrism Mass in 2013, just two weeks after the Pope's election.[8] In October 2013, Pope Francis, who had met De Donatis only once at that lunch, chose him to preach the 2014 Lenten spiritual exercises of the Roman Curia, an assignment that for fifty years had been given to a cardinal or well-known theologian.[8][1]
In September 2016, De Donatis published Nulla è più dolce dell'amore (Nothing is Sweeter than Love), a collection of twenty reflections on the various forms of mercy as interpreted through the Bible.[13]
On 26 May 2017, Pope Francis appointed De Donatis the Vicar General of Rome and Archpriest of the Archbasilica of St. John Lateran,[14] elevating him as well to the rank of archbishop.[15][16][2] The Vicar General serves as de facto bishop of Rome on behalf of the pope. Pope Francis ignored the rule that the vicar general of Rome must be a cardinal.[a] De Donatis is the first person since the sixteenth century to be named Vicar General when not a cardinal.[19][b] As Vicar General he serves ex officio as Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Lateran University.[24] At the same time, he was made the apostolic administrator of the Suburbicarian Diocese of Ostia.[25]
Cardinalate
On 20 May 2018, Pope Francis announced he would make De Donatis a cardinal at the next consistory.[26] At the consistory on 28 June 2018, he was assigned the deanery of San Marco,[27] the same church where he served as a parish priest fifteen years earlier.
On 12 March 2020, when public Masses were already prohibited in Italy, De Donatis ordered Rome's churches closed to the public. Cardinal Konrad Krajewski and others opened churches anyway. On 13 March he ordered that parish churches could open provided they took appropriate measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus. He said he spoke with Pope Francis before issuing each of those orders. In a letter to the diocese he wrote: "The risk of health care structures collapsing is evident.... We can contain this tragic eventuality only by applying measures to stop the contagion and allow the national health service to reorganize.... Draw close to one another — not physically, but with solidarity.... Unfortunately, going to church is no different than going anywhere: There is a risk of contagion."[30]
After testing positive for COVID-19, De Donatis entered the Agostino Gemelli University Policlinic with a fever on 30 March 2020; he had not been in physical contact with Pope Francis or visited the Vatican recently.[31] He was released on 10 April and continued to recuperate at home.[32]
Cardinal De Donatis was criticised by victims of Marko Rupnik's alleged spiritual and sexual abuse who expressed "bewilderment" with the Diocese of Rome's statement praising the art and theology centre he founded.[33]
In January 2023, Pope Francis reorganized the Diocese of Rome, greatly restricted the role of vicar general. He defined the role of each auxiliary bishop and took direct charge of many diocesan decisions.[34][35] He defined the vicar general's role as a coordinator of the work of diocesan bodies, defined him as an auxiliary, and restricted his sphere of responsibility with the rule that the vicar general "will not undertake important initiatives or ones exceeding ordinary administration without first reporting to me".[36]
On 6 April 2024, Pope Francis appointed him Major Penitentiary.[37] The pope told his auxiliaries that he would "take time to carry out a healthy discernment" before naming a new vicar general.[38]
Coat of arms
Angelo De Donatis' coat of arms
Blazon
Tierced inverted pall: in the first, red division of the field is contained a winged lion with a halo, with the head front-facing, while crouching and holding with its front legs in front of its chest a golden book bearing in black, capital letters PAX TIBI MARCE in four rows on the first side, and EVANGELISTA MEUS in four rows on the second side. In the second blue division on the right-hand side is a charge of a silver umbraculum. In the third, silver division is a branch with an open pomegranate. A gothic patriarchal cross is behind the shield and a galero, signifying De Donatis' archiepiscopal status.[39]
Before being appointed the Vicar General of Rome, De Donatis' coat of arms as auxiliary bishop was divided into red and silver fields, without the umbraculum on the blue field.[40]
Episcopal motto
The words of De Donatis' Latin episcopal motto, nihil caritate dulcius ("nothing is sweeter than love" in English), are taken from St. Ambrose's De officiis ministrorum (in English: On the Duties of the Clergy): "Be among you the peace that surpasses all feeling. Love one another. Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing more pleasing than peace."[40]
Interpretation
The lion of St. Mark the Evangelist, chosen in honor of the saint to whom is dedicated the parish he led before being appointed a bishop, stands on red, which is the color of love and blood. The umbraculum, the symbol of the Bishop of Rome, over a blue background, representing the detachment from earthly values and the ascent of the soul to God. At the bottom is a pomegranate, the symbol of the Passion of Christ, on a background of silver, which symbolizes the purity of the Virgin Mary to whom De Donatis entrusts his episcopal ministry.[40]
^When Pope John Paul II named Camillo Ruini his vicar general on 17 January 1991, he gave him the title "pro-vicar general", the formula used when an appointee could anticipate receiving the proper title eventually. Ruini became a cardinal on 28 June of that year and was named vicar general on 1 July.[17][18]
^In 1558 Pope Paul IV decreed that the Vicar General of Rome is always a cardinal or is made a cardinal soon after being appointed.[20] De Donatis was not created a cardinal at the consistory that followed the announcement of his appointment as Vicar by a month, and Vatican observers disagreed as to whether he would be made a cardinal at the next consistory. A source close to Pope Francis said: "Tout comme le pape a créé cardinal un évêque auxiliaire qui continuera à l'être, cela correspond bien à la volonté de François de bien séparer, d'un côté, le rôle pastoral de l'évêque et, de l'autre, la charge cardinalice au service de l'Église universelle." ["Just as the pope made an auxiliary bishop a cardinal while remaining an auxiliary, that suits his desire to distinguish the bishop's pastoral role on the one hand from a cardinal's responsibility for service to the universal church."][21] Other reports predicted De Donatis would be made a cardinal: "A decree instituted by Pope Paul IV in 1558 also holds that the Vicar of Rome must be a cardinal. Since Pope Francis has already named him as an archbishop, it's likely Donatis could be added to the list of 5 prelates who will get a red hat during the June 28 consistory."[22][23]
^ abTornielli, Andrea (22 October 2013). "Il parroco che predica gli esercizi al Papa" [The Parish Priest who Preaches the Spiritual Exercises to the Pope]. La Stampa (in Italian). Retrieved 4 June 2017.
^Acta Apostolicae Sedis(PDF). Vol. LXXXIII. 1991. pp. 161, 630, 631. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
^"Ruini Card. Camillo". Holy See Press Office. Archived from the original on 4 September 2017. Retrieved 4 November 2017. On 17 January 1991 he was named Archbishop and Pro-Vicar General of the Pope for the Diocese of Rome.... Named Vicar General of His Holiness for the Diocese of Rome ... 1 July 1991.
^"Francis appoints "pastor" as new vicar of Rome". Crux. 26 May 2017. Retrieved 4 June 2017. By tradition, the vicar of Rome is the "Cardinal Vicar of Rome," and all other vicars have been named a cardinal before taking up the post. In fact, in 1991, Pope John Paul II named Bishop Camillo Ruini "pro-vicar general" for Rome, not appointing him "vicar general" until after he was created a cardinal six months later. Francis seems to want to make the position more focused on the local Church, instead of dealing with the various Curial assignments occupying much of the time of all cardinals living in Rome.
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