Father Antonio Luigi Piccolo, new Rector General of the Order of the Mother of God

On 14 July 2022, during the 112th General Chapter 'Ready and Apostolic' of the Order of the Mother of God, Fr Antonio Luigi Piccolo was elected as the new Rector Major. The outgoing rector is Father Vincenzo Molinaro, who for many years served as successor to St. John Leonardi, founder of the Order.

Father Luigi Piccolo was born in Gallipoli on 15 May 1969. He attended school there up to high school and graduated in Economic and Banking Sciences. He qualified as a Chartered Accountant and enrolled in the Master in Corporate Auditing at LUISS, in Rome.

Here he began an intense attendance at the Community of the Clerics Regular of the Mother of God (or more commonly the Order of the Mother of God) in Campitelli, and on his return to Gallipoli he did his civil service at CTM (Cooperation in the World's Territories) and matured his vocational discernment in the parish of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, also entrusted to the Leonardini.

He applied for a postulancy at the OMD Community in Naples where he completed his studies at the Pontifical Theological Faculty of Southern Italy section San Luigi. He studied Sacramentary at the Pontifical Athenaeum Saint Anselm in Rome and Human Sciences in Consecrated Life at Edi.S.I. in Genoa.

Solemn profession on 22 October 2006, he was ordained on 7 July 2007. Formator and rector in Naples, formator, rector and vicar in the B.V. Maria del SS. Rosario Community in San Ferdinando di Puglia. He also held the position of Administrator of the OMD.

On the morning of 14 July 2022, the General Chapter of the Order of the Mother of God, composed of 25 members, was received in audience by Pope Francis together with two other General Chapters: that of the Basilians and of the Priests of the Mission of St. Vincent de Paul. The Holy Father prepared a single address for the three Chapters, addressing each one according to their charism.