Leo XIV, the first movements

Leo XIV’s move to the Papal Apartment coincided this week with a significant appointment.

Cardinal Konrad Krajewski was appointed Archbishop of Lodz. This move ends his more than thirty years of association with the Vatican. Above all, he is relinquishing the leadership of the Office of Apostolic Charities.

In his place, Leo XIV has called an Augustinian, Bishop Luis Marin de San Martín – who is now given the title of Archibshop. Until now, Marin de San Martín had been undersecretary of the Synod of Bishops. The Pope gives him the title of “archbishop”—the title that belongs to an Almoner.

This change is important for four distinct reasons, each marking a shift in approach.

The first reason concerns how the Pope is assembling his team. An Augustinian is appointed Almoner and head of the Dicastery of Charity, strengthening the Augustinians in the Pontifical Family. The Sacristy of St. Peter’s Basilica and the parish of Sant’Anna in the Vatican are also entrusted to the Augustinians. Leo XIV adds another Augustinian, creating the impression of forming his own pontifical family that shares the same language and knowledge. In a future transition, the Pope may restore the Office of Almoners as a personal office rather than a Curia dicastery, returning to the ancient tradition of papal charity and freeing it from bureaucracy.

The Almoner sits to the Pope’s left during state visits, while the Prefect of the Papal Household sits on his right. This post was vacant under Pope Francis but may soon be filled by Archbishop Petar Rajić, the nuncio to Italy.

Rajić, from papal diplomacy, will bridge to the Secretariat of State. Leo XIV balances naming a prefect connected to the Secretariat of State with appointing an Almoner he wholly trusts. Marin came to Rome as the Augustinians’ librarian at the request of Father Robert Prevost, who was then Prior General.

In short, the papal family is being reconstituted.

Leo XIV seems very attentive to balancing the two. First, he rebalanced the group of aides by appointing a former Swiss Guard alongside a former gendarme. Now, he is restoring the ranks of the old Papal Household by placing a member of his own order alongside a person of diplomatic rank.

The second reason is that Leo XIV is beginning to build his own team, and, above all, is doing so outside the circle that once surrounded Pope Francis. Krajewski was highly esteemed as an almsgiver. His role as a helper and supporter of the poor made him excellent in this position and beloved by Pope Francis. As a result, the Pope decided to create him a cardinal to emphasize that even the Pope’s “charity” should have a red hat alongside “faith”—that is, alongside the Prefect of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.

Krajewski was a visible expression of Pope Francis’s pontificate. He undertook highly publicized humanitarian missions and sent thank-you letters to sponsors. His visibility even led him to illegally restore power to a group occupying a building in Rome. After standing alongside John Paul II, serving under Benedict XVI, and becoming Pope Francis’s right-hand man, Krajewski returned to his homeland. For the first time, he is an archbishop of a diocese.

He was sent to Lodz, a complex archdiocese left vacant by Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś, who was appointed Archbishop of Kraków.

This was not a promoveatur ut amoveatur — literally “promote in order to remove” – if only because Krajewski was already a cardinal. Still, it leaves one wondering how Leo XIV would assemble his team. He seems to do so without disruption, taking advantage of opportunities and striving for harmony.

The third reason shows the Pope’s desire to restore a more institutional profile and surround himself with men suited to this end.

This desire was evident from the start of his pontificate, when he decided to don the mozzetta. For example, Bishop Luis Marín, in an interview, explained that Pope Francis had been an exception; nevertheless, the Pope’s choir dress remains white and red, reflecting, among other things, a typically Augustinian manner.

The appointment of Archbishop Filippo Iannone as Prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops is an institutional appointment. The appointment of Bishop Marin as Almoner is also an institutional matter. The selection of four new auxiliaries to the Diocese of Rome, all from Rome, as well as the restoration of the central sector, are institutional matters. Soon, an institutional appointment will designate a new Prefect of the Papal Household.

Much more will be possible when Leo XIV chooses his replacement, a key figure in the Secretariat of State and, in effect, the Pope’s first collaborator.

The fourth reason concerns the future of the Synod of Bishops.

Cardinal Mario Grech, the Synod’s Secretary General, immediately pushed to maintain the synodal process’s timeline as conceived. Leo XIV spoke from the start about “synodality” as a hallmark of his pontificate. The Synod’s General Secretariat continued to publish documents, maintain working groups, and advance along its path without disruption.

But the decision to remove Marin carries considerable weight. Leo XIV removes a trusted man from the Synod just as the Synod seeks new impetus. Who the Pope will choose to succeed Marin as undersecretary remains to be seen.

Marin’s departure also suggests, above all, a dismantling of the Synod Secretariat’s structure. In any case, the decision implies—rightly or wrongly—that the Pope does not intend to give the Synod Secretariat the full importance it once had under Pope Francis.

Are we witnessing a new and different synodal momentum? Certainly, four points of interest accompany the appointment of the new Almoner and Krajewski’s departure. These are food for thought. Meanwhile, the Pope continues his institutional journey and returns to live in the Apostolic Palace. This seems to be a moment of great change.