In an unusual decision, Pope Francis has appointed a bishop, Auxiliary Bishop Michele Di Tolve of Rome, as the rector of the Pontifical Roman Major Seminary. Bishop Di Tolve succeeds Father Gabriele Faraghini, a member of the Little Brothers of Jesus, whom the Pope appointed in 2017.
Then-Father Di Tolve was rector of the Archiepiscopal Seminary of Milan from 2014 to 2020, at which point he became a parish priest. In a March 25 audience with Milan parishioners, Pope Francis said he had known Di Tolve for over two decades and went out of his way to praise him. On May 26, Pope Francis appointed him auxiliary bishop of Rome—the seventh active auxiliary bishop for the diocese of 3.1 million. (Los Angeles, which has 4 million Catholics, has only two active auxiliary bishops.)