Pope Leo XIV will preside over a Mass on Thursday, October 8, at 6:00 p.m. in St. Peter’s Basilica to mark the inauguration of the Academic Year of the Pontifical Universities. The celebration will gather the academic community of Rome’s ecclesiastical institutions of higher education around the Pontiff.
The Office of Liturgical Celebrations of the Supreme Pontiff published on Tuesday, September 29, the guidelines for the celebration, signed by Mons. Diego Ravelli, Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations. The Mass had already been included by the Holy See in Pope Leo XIV’s calendar of celebrations for September and October.
The university community around the altar of St. Peter
The celebration will mark the joint inauguration of the new academic year for the pontifical universities, which train in Rome priests, seminarians, religious, and laity from numerous countries.
The Holy See has arranged for the participation of patriarchs, cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests, and deacons in the concelebration.
According to the guidelines issued by the Office of Liturgical Celebrations, patriarchs and cardinals wishing to concelebrate must gather at 5:15 p.m. in the Chapel of St. Sebastian in St. Peter’s Basilica, wearing a white damask mitre. Archbishops and bishops must arrive at the same time wearing a simple white mitre.
Priests wishing to concelebrate and deacons must request prior accreditation from the Office of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations before October 6 and until available places are filled. The call asks them to be present at 5:00 p.m. in the Constantinian Wing.
For the celebration, presbyters must wear an amice, alb, cincture, and red stole, as specified in the document signed by Ravelli.
One of Pope Leo XIV’s upcoming celebrations in Rome
The Mass had been announced on August 28, when the Holy See published the calendar of liturgical celebrations that Pope Leo XIV would preside over during September and October. The document released on Tuesday now details the provisions for those participating in the concelebration.
The celebration will take place ten days after the conclusion of the Pope’s apostolic journey to France and his visit to the UNESCO headquarters, held between September 25 and 28.
October’s calendar also includes a general audience on the 7th, the eve of the university Mass. On October 14, Pope Leo XIV will preside over another Eucharistic celebration, this time in St. Peter’s Square, to mark the conclusion of the meeting for the tenth anniversary of the publication of the apostolic exhortation Amoris laetitia.
The inauguration of the pontifical universities’ academic year comes after several months in which Pope Leo XIV has devoted a significant part of his magisterium to the liturgy. The Pontiff has particularly emphasized fidelity to approved texts and the responsibility of priests in celebrating the sacred mysteries.
In August, he recalled that it is especially the duty of bishops and priests “to safeguard and promote” a liturgy that respects the norms and “shines with noble simplicity.” He has also affirmed the properly liturgical character of sacred music, noting that it is not merely a decoration of the celebration.
The Mass on October 8 will now bring the Pope to inaugurate the academic year precisely before those who are formed and teach in Rome’s pontifical institutions.