Before the Sunday Angelus, Pope Leo XIV received in audience the gentlemen in charge of the antechamber and the papal thrones, to express his gratitude for the work they perform with a spirit of fidelity to the Holy Father.
The Pontiff gave special greetings to the Regent of the Prefecture of the Papal Household, Monsignor Leonardo Sapienza, and to the Vice-Regent, Father Edward Daniang Daleng, OSA, who coordinate the service.
Leo XIV summarized the mission of these servers in three verbs: to arrange, to welcome, and to greet. “The quality of an encounter, in fact, begins with the attention that characterizes its preparations, down to the smallest details,” the Pope affirmed.
In the case of the Vatican, he noted, this work is steeped in history and art, and the space demands “a service that is both attentive and humble.” The arrangement of the rooms is followed by attentive gestures of welcome, and he praised them for being “noble, but not pompous; elegant, but not pretentious, so that they convey kindness to all.”
The Pope emphasized that “whether prince or pilgrim, patriarch or postulant, the concern of the Successor of Peter remains identical for all and loving for each one.”
Leo XIV also emphasized the sober beauty that characterizes the pontifical protocol, reflected in each of its gestures, and encouraged the servants to bear witness to the values inherited from their predecessors “with a consistent life, knowing well that the service of honor certainly requires a particular deontology, but above all a solid faith and, therefore, a spiritual style marked by devotion to the Church and the Pope.”
“May our actions, our posture, and our outlook each day always be a shining reflection of that,” he concluded.
The Pope closed the meeting by once again thanking everyone for their service and bestowing his Apostolic Blessing upon them all, which he gladly extended also to the families and loved ones of the servants.
Men devoted to the Pope
The Papal Household comprises an ecclesiastical section and a lay section. The Gentlemen of His Holiness belong to the latter. They are the heirs of the “lay chamberlains” of the papal courts of the 16th century. At that time, they performed material or honorary functions and were classified according to titles and a very strict protocol. In 1968, Pope Paul VI abolished these distinctions and granted them all the title of Gentleman.
Recruited from the nobility and social elite, they are appointed by the Pope. During their service at the Apostolic Palace and at diplomatic audiences, they wear a black suit, a tailcoat, a triple gold chain with the papal arms, and medallions with the intertwined letters “GSS,” an abbreviation of their title, along with their various papal decorations, as well as civil and military medals from other countries.
The papal throne bearers are also a body of the Papal Household. Like the gentlemen of the papal chamber, their office is often hereditary. Formerly, they carried the papal thrones and, in particular, the sedia gestatoria used by the Popes during audiences, until John Paul I (1978). With the reform and simplification of papal ceremonial promoted by Paul VI, the bearers became members of the Antichamber of the Papal Household and the Prefect’s closest collaborators. Today, the throne bearers no longer carry the Popes, except on the occasion of their funerals.