Rolandas Makrickas

Rolandas Makrickas was born on 31 January 1972 in Biržai, Lithuania,^[1] the youngest of five children.^[2] Because Soviet authorities restricted religious practice and catechesis, his early religious education was private and tersely accomplished. The end of the Soviet era allowed him to gain a more extensive understanding of his faith and ways of experiencing beyond ritual. While young he flew gliders and briefly considered a career in aviation.^[2]

He entered Kaunas Priest Seminary in 1990, the second year it operated, and beginning in 1991 lived at the St. Casimir Lithuanian College in Rome while studying philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University.^[2] He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Panevėžys on 30 July 1996. From 1996 to 2001 he was under-secretary of the Lithuanian Bishops' Conference and headed the National Committee of the Great Jubilee of 2000. He earned a doctorate in church history at the Gregorian in 2004.^[1]

He studied at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy from 2003 to 2006^{[citation needed]} and joined the diplomatic service of the Holy See on 1 July 2006 and fulfilled assignments first in Bolivia,^[2] in Georgia where he witnessed the destruction of the Russo-Georgian War,^[2] and in Sweden where the nunciature was responsible for several northern countries.^[1] He served in the United States from 2013 to 2017, which included a papal visit. For two years, he was chargeé d'affairs in Gabon and counselor in Congo,^[3] where he joined in the Church's delivery of social services and managed a construction project.^[2]

On 10 August 2019, he joined the Section for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State in Rome^[1] as head of administration, the first non-Italian to hold that position.^[4] In that role he participated in the reorganization of the Vatican's financial and administrative functions.^[2]

On 15 December 2021, Pope Francis appointed him extraordinary commissioner with responsibility for managing the assets of the chapter of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, citing "the particular complexities of the economic and financial management of the Chapter ... exacerbated by the spread of the [COVID-19] pandemic".^[5][a] The pope left a meeting to offer him the post in a brief hallway conversation.^[2] Despite that characterization of his role, he repeatedly acted as spokesperson for the basilica's events and initiatives.^{[7][8][9][10]}

On 23 February 2023, the pope made him titular bishop of Tolentino with the personal title of archbishop.^[1] Makrickas received his episcopal consecration on 15 April from Cardinal Pietro Parolin, with co-consecrators Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, Archpriest of Santa Maria Maggiore, and Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra.^[11]

On 20 March 2024, ending Makrickas' role as commissioner and redefining the role of the Basilica's canons,^[6] Pope Francis named him coadjutor archpriest of Santa Maria Maggiore.^[12]

Pope Francis announced on 6 October 2024 that he plans to make him a cardinal on 8 December,^[13] a date that was later changed to 7 December.^[14]

• Catholic Church in Lithuania