Cardinal Rolandas Makrickas, the Coadjutor Archpriest of the Basilica of St. Mary Major, is a Lithuanian-born prelate and experienced Holy See diplomat who is esteemed by Pope Francis for his administrative skills especially in the area of finance.

Born on January 31, 1972, in Biržai, Lithuania, Makrickas grew up during the Soviet era, which restricted religious practices, leading to his early religious education being private and brief. “We felt the persecution of the Church during the Soviet era quite strongly,” he said in a recent interview.

As the youngest of five children, Makrickas initially considered a career in aviation and even flew gliders in his youth. “I was very attracted to flying, the opportunity to rise above the ground,” he has said. “However, I decided to choose the seminary, but I can fly even now — I’m happy to do it when I return to Lithuania.”

Makrickas entered Kaunas Priest Seminary in 1990 and later studied philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. He was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Panevėžys on July 30, 1996.

From 1996 to 2001, he served as 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 from the Pontifical Gregorian University in 2004.

After studying at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy from 2003 to 2006, Makrickas joined the Holy See’s diplomatic service on July 1, 2006 — an experience which he says radically changed his life. His diplomatic assignments included postings in Bolivia, Georgia, Sweden, the United States, Gabon, and Congo.

He was stationed in Georgia during the Russo-Georgian war and while he was working at the apostolic nunciature in Washington DC (2013-2017) he was involved in organizing Pope Francis’  2015 visit to the United States, working under the oversight of then-nuncio, Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò.

The following two years, he served as chargé d’affaires in Gabon, and counselor in Congo where he helped the Church provide social services and manage a construction project.

In 2019, he moved to Rome where his administrative skills were further recognized and he became the first non-Italian to head the administration in the Section for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State.

On December 15, 2021, Pope Francis, who has a special affection for the basilica, appointed Makrickas as extraordinary commissioner to manage the assets of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore. “The financial situation of this basilica became very difficult during the pandemic, and there were also structural administrative problems, so this is a new period of reform,” Makrickas said in 2024.¹He said the Pope wanted “not only changes in administrative activities, he wanted to reform the institution of the basilica chapter itself, so that it would work to achieve new goals: the nurturing and support of prayer, pastoral care and the liturgy.” “This is quite a job and requires collaboration and a lot of coordination with experts from different institutions.”

While continuing the task, he was made titular bishop of Tolentino with the personal title of archbishop on February 23, 2023. Co-consecrators were Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pollish Cardinal Stanislaw Rylko, Archpriest of St. Mary Major, and deputy secretary of state, Archbishop Edgar Peña Parra. A year later, he was named coadjutor archpriest of St. Mary Major.

Pope Francis elevated Rolandas Makrickas to cardinal on December 7, 2024.

On opening the holy door of St. Mary Major on January 1, 2025 — the fourth of five holy doors opened for the 2025 jubilee year — the cardinal said: “It will not be ideas or technology that give us comfort or hope, but the face of the Mother of God.”

Archbishop Makrickas is multilingual and speaks English, French, Italian, and Spanish fluently.