Father Giacomo Costa, S.J., and Sr. Elena Massimi, F.M.A., succeed H.E. Msgr. Luis Marín de San Martín, O.S.A., and Sr. Nathalie Becquart, X.M.C.J.
This morning the Holy Father Leo XIV appointed two new Under-Secretaries of the General Secretariat of the Synod, for a five-year term.
They are Father Giacomo Costa, S.J., a Jesuit from Genoa, formerly a Consultor of the General Secretariat and Special Secretary of the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, and Sister Elena Massimi, F.M.A. (Daughter of Mary Help of Christians - Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco), a theologian, liturgist and musician.
Father Giacomo Costa, S.J., succeeds H.E. Msgr. Luis Marín de San Martín, O.S.A., who was called on 12 March this year to head the Dicastery for the Service of Charity. Sr. Elena Massimi, F.M.A., takes over from Sr. Nathalie Becquart, X.M.C.J., appointed Under-Secretary in February 2021.
Commenting on the two appointments, Cardinal Mario Grech, Secretary General of the Synod, said: “I thank Msgr. Luis Marín de San Martín and Sr. Nathalie Becquart for the service they have rendered over these years, which have seen the Synod pass through significant and demanding stages. Father Giacomo accompanied the Assembly from within and knows its method; Sr. Elena comes from liturgy and music, and so she knows what it means to build unity, to harmonise different voices without reducing them to a single note. This is exactly what the implementation phase needs. Father Giacomo and Sister Elena are indeed now asked to accompany the moment in which convergences become practice, in the local Churches and in the Roman Curia. I wish them both to continue with joy and confidence the journey already begun: a journey is not inherited; it is continued by walking.”
Father Giacomo Costa, S.J., receives “with gratitude and also with some emotion this appointment, which allows me to continue, in a new form, a journey begun some years ago now under the fatherly guidance of Pope Francis and shared with so many people and so many Churches throughout the world. Over these years I have received much from listening to their experiences, their hopes and also the difficulties they have encountered. I am grateful to the Holy Father Leo XIV for the trust placed in me, and I entrust myself to the Lord, that he may help me to carry out this service.” He concludes: “I also thank Cardinal Mario Grech, at whose side I am called to work together with Sr. Elena Massimi, and all the staff of the General Secretariat of the Synod. After these years of synodal journey, I feel that this office is not only a service, but a true calling, within the path the Lord has given me to walk.”
Commenting on her appointment, Sister Elena Massimi, F.M.A., said: “I wish to express my most sincere and profound gratitude to the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, for the trust he has placed in me in conferring this office. I accept this appointment in a spirit of service and with a sense of responsibility, aware of the delicacy and the importance of the task that awaits me. I place my complete trust in the Lord, whom I encounter daily in the liturgical celebration and in listening to his Word. I am glad to be able to work alongside Cardinal Mario Grech, together with Father Giacomo Costa, S.J., the officials and all those who collaborate with the General Secretariat of the Synod, with the desire to share, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, a way of working grounded in mutual and participatory listening and in the constant pursuit of the good of the Church.”
***********
The Under-Secretaries of the General Secretariat of the Synod assist the Secretary General in the preparation and accompaniment of the Synodal Assemblies and in the service of the local Churches along the synodal journey. They are appointed by the Roman Pontiff (cf. Episcopalis communio, 9; art. 22 ff.).
***********
Copyright-free photographs and the curricula of the new Under-Secretaries are available at this address.