Monreale, 3 May 2026 – On the occasion of the 400th anniversary of the institution of the Feast of the Most Holy Crucifix, His Most Reverend Eminence Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, Prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, presided over the Solemn Pontifical at the Church of the Collegiate of the Most Holy Crucifix. On 9 May 1626, Archbishop Girolamo Venero, during an outbreak of plague, re-established the Collegiate in the church, not only to stop the plague but also to improve the social and economic conditions of the secular clergy. He instituted a college of 24 secular priests, the canons who were “guardians of the miraculous image of the Crucifix.”
For the 400th anniversary of the religious feast, Pope Leo XIV granted a Jubilee Year to the Collegiate Church. The celebration was concelebrated by the Archbishop of Monreale, H.E. Most Rev. Msgr. Gualtiero Isacchi, Ecclesiastical Knight Grand Cross of Grace, and Fr. Nicola Gaglio, Ecclesiastical Knight of Grace, together with numerous priests of the Norman Diocese. The procession moved from the Episcopal Palace to the Collegiate Church in the presence of civil and military authorities. Also present were the Mayor of Monreale and the city’s institutional representatives, together with the city banner, decorated with the Constantinian Gold Medal granted by the Grand Master. Knights of the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of Saint George and of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem were also present. Cardinal Semeraro later met with civil and military authorities and representatives of the chivalric orders.
At the conclusion of the Solemn Pontifical, Fr. Nicola Gaglio presented the Cardinal with a precious mosaic depicting the Madonna of the Cathedral of Monreale at the feet of Christ Pantocrator, while the Confraternity of the Most Holy Crucifix donated a beautiful Crucifix. Upon returning, the Sicilian Vice Delegate, Noble Antonio di Janni, Knight Grand Cross of Grace, presented Cardinal Semeraro, the Grand Prior, and Archbishop Msgr. Isacchi with a commemorative medal of the Sicilian Delegation.
