ROME (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV has appointed and ordained four new auxiliary bishops for Rome, selecting parish priests for the roles while urging “outreach to the marginalized” in a ceremony that underscored his vision for the Church’s mission on “the material and existential peripheries.”

On May 2, Pope Leo XIV consecrated four new auxiliary bishops for the Diocese of Rome in the Basilica of St. John Lateran – Stefano Sparapani, Alessandro Zenobbi, Andrea Carlevale and Marco Valenti – assigning them respectively to the west, east, south, and north sectors after announcing their appointment on February 25, 2026, and calling them to a pastoral mission focused on “those most excluded from society.”

“I encourage you to reach the discarded stones of this city and to proclaim to them that in Christ, our cornerstone, no one is excluded from becoming an active part of the holy building that is the Church and of the fraternity among human beings,” Leo said in his homily.

READ: Leo XIV’s pre-papal writings reveal a theology of unity at any cost

All four appointees were serving as parish priests at the time of their nomination and had not previously held episcopal office. Their selection reflects a profile rooted in ordinary pastoral ministry rather than in academic, curial, or specialized formation, echoing the style adopted by Pope Francis. The language used during the homily further reinforced this orientation. The expression “discarded stones,” employed by the Pope to describe those on the margins, follows the vocabulary of his predecessor, centered on social exclusion and reintegration.

At the same time, the new appointments follow a series of decisions that have modified the organizational structure of the Diocese of Rome. The four new auxiliary bishops have been placed in charge of the non-central sectors, while the central district has been re-established as a distinct entity and entrusted to separate leadership.

The recent developments are linked to reforms introduced under Pope Francis and subsequently revised under Pope Leo XIV. On October 4, 2024, Francis issued the motu proprio La vera bellezza, which suppressed the central sector of the Diocese of Rome and redistributed its parishes among the four remaining sectors. This measure aimed to reduce the distinction between the historic center and the peripheral areas, integrating them into a unified territorial framework.

This restructuring altered a system that had been in place since the 1960s, when the rapid urban expansion of Rome led to the creation of multiple diocesan sectors, including a distinct central zone. The 2024 reform effectively dissolved this central unit, incorporating it into the broader diocesan organization.

On November 26, 2025, Pope Leo promulgated the motu proprio Immota manet, restoring the central sector as a separate administrative division and reconstituting its five prefectorial subdivisions. This decision reintroduced a structural distinction between the center and the other sectors of the diocese.

Following this restoration, the Pope reassigned Archbishop Renato Tarantelli Baccari to oversee the re-established central sector as auxiliary bishop. The subsequent appointment and ordination of four auxiliary bishops for the remaining sectors completes this phase of reorganization.