Leo XIV announces reforms to rejuvenate the Church: 75-year pension for bishops, merged dioceses and an end to bureaucratic inertia
A dark gray sky, covered with thick and heavy clouds, surrounded Pope Leo XIV in his first official release beyond the borders of Rome and its province. The arrival by helicopter, the visit to the tomb of St. Francis in the crypt of the Lower Basilica, the meeting at the Porziuncola with the Italian bishops gathered for the assembly of the Italian Episcopal Conference: each stage had a very specific meaning. «It is a blessing for me to be able to come to this sacred place today. We are close to eight hundred years since the death of Saint Francis. This gives us the opportunity to prepare to celebrate this great, humble, poor saint while the world searches for signs of hope”, announced the Pontiff, anticipating his return for the eighth centenary of the saint’s death, in 2026. But behind the spiritual dimension of the pilgrimage lay an ambitious reform agenda.
Closing the general assembly of the CEI, in fact, Leo XIV gave a detailed speech that marks a carried out in ecclesiastical governance. The Pope invited the bishops to return to the foundations of faith and to give concrete form to “a collegial Church”, promoting “an integral humanism”. But above all it touched a raw nerve: the need to renew the structures, avoiding that “despite good intentions, inertia slows down the necessary changes”.
Pension at 75 for bishops
The focus of the reform concerns the age of the bishops. Leo In 2018, Pope Francis eliminated the automatic pension at 75 years of age, introducing a more flexible system: bishops must present their resignation, but the Pontiff can extend their mandate on a case-by-case basis. A mechanism that has often lengthened times, creating stalemate situations. THEThe renewal of Leo
From an economic point of view, a bishop earns on average around 3000 euros per month and his pension is around 1600-1800 eurosvarying based on position and seniority. The Military Ordinary, equivalent to the rank of army general, can reach 4000 euros per month. For cardinals, who receive an average of 5,000 euros per month, the pension calculation is more complex. Pensions are managed by the Clergy Fund at the INPS, but the rules are not always rigorously applied.
Smaller dioceses and a leaner Church
Leo XIV’s project is not limited only to the registry question. The Pope outlined the profile of a more streamlined Church, with smaller dioceses merged together. The objective is to overcome the “shallows” of bureaucratic inertia and better respond to contemporary challenges. A structural reform that will require time and mediation skills, but which the Pontiff considers necessary because the Church “needs to constantly renew itself”.
It is no coincidence that Leo XIV chose Assisi to announce this reforming vision. The reference to Saint Francis, to his poverty and humility, becomes a paradigm of a renewal that starts from the essential. After the meeting with the bishops, the Pope went to Montefalco, visiting the community of Augustinian nuns whom he knew well from the days when he was prior general of the order. An underlining gesture the importance of small communities and concrete testimony, away from the spotlight, typical of Robert Prevost’s personality.
The path traced by the Pontiff will certainly not be simple. But in Assisi, a wonderful and spiritual city that gave birth to a revolutionary like Saint Francis, Leo XIV sent a clear messageo: the Church must be able to look to the future to remain faithful to its mission. As, after all, he has always done.
