Pope establishes commission to relaunch ‘House for the Relief of Suffering’

Vatican, May 27, 2026: The Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza (House for the Relief of Suffering) Foundation, one of Italy’s major healthcare institutions founded from the vision of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina in San Giovanni Rotondo, is entering a renewed phase of development.

Pope Leo XIV has issued a chirograph establishing a Commission for Direction and Oversight of the Foundation, entrusting it with the responsibility of identifying the best solutions to improve its efficiency, effectiveness, and long-term sustainability.

The newly formed steering committee will be led by the Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, Maximino Caballero Ledo, while the Secretary of APSA, Fabio Gasperini, will serve as coordinator.

Other members include the Substitute of the Secretariat of State, Archbishop Paolo Rudelli; the President of APSA, Archbishop Giordano Piccinotti; and Archbishop Giorgio Ferretti of Foggia-Bovino.

Pope Leo also named Dr Benjamín Estévez de Cominges, Dr Gino Gumirato, and Attorney Alessandro Ela Oyana to the Technical Committee.

The move stems from the Apostolic See’s concern for works of charity and from the understanding that major institutions must be prepared to confront the challenges brought by change in order to remain faithful to their mission.

“The evolution of the times, of technology, of law, and of the economy,” the chirograph reads, “places the Church’s mission before the challenge of continuous renewal,” particularly in the healthcare field, which calls for vision, investment, and prudent administration.

Among these institutions is the House for the Relief of Suffering, established “with the purpose of offering hospitality, assistance, and care to the sick, to pilgrims, and to their families, inspired by the spirituality and figure of its holy founder.”

In order “to face and take up this challenge,” Pope Leo has chosen to establish “a Commission for Direction and Oversight of the Foundation ‘Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza – Work of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina, O.F.M. Cap.,’ with the task of analysing the Foundation’s current situation, identifying the best solutions for ever greater efficiency, effectiveness, and long-term sustainability of its work and mission, and giving concrete implementation to the solutions thus identified.”

The Commission will function across all sectors — economic, patrimonial, and operational — with full authority to act and to undertake the necessary measures of ordinary and extraordinary administration.

It will report directly to the Pope before any decision of particular importance and, in all cases, before adopting acts of special significance or measures that have a decisive and substantial impact on the Foundation’s assets or alter its Statute.

The House for the Relief of Suffering emerged from Padre Pio’s practical faith and his conviction that caring for the human body formed an essential part of the Christian mission.

Today, decades later, that vision continues unchanged, and Leo XIV’s chirograph stands as a gesture of care. It reflects the same concern with which the saint of Pietrelcina desired that no sick person, pilgrim, or family member would be left without welcome and assistance.

The relaunch of the House for the Relief of Suffering is an expression of fidelity to the founder, to the mission of the institution, and to all those who enter its doors each day in search of healing and hope.

Courtesy: Vatican News