From the ceremonial farewell to the Pope to the conversation between Trump and Zelensky: who is the Bari monsignor 'director' of the historic meeting

If at a certain point, shortly before the funeral of Pope Francis, US President Donald Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were able to face each other, sitting opposite each other inside the Chapel of the Baptismal Font, in St Peter's Basilica, among the mosaics signed by Giovanni Battista Gaulli and Francesco Trevisani, it is also thanks to him. Because it was he, Leonardo Sapienza, a Monsignor from Bari, class of 1952, born in Cassano delle Murge, who for more than a decade has held a strategic role in the geography of the Holy See - he is the regent of the Prefecture of the Papal Household, that is to say the office responsible for organising the Pope's public activities - who made that conversation possible.

It was, in fact, the 72-year-old priest who realised that, on the sidelines of the Supreme Father's funeral, a historical meeting was about to take place, and perhaps decisive for the fate of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. So Sapienza left quickly to get three wooden chairs covered in damask fabric: he went out onto the parvis and paraded the chairs from the rows already prepared for the foreign authorities by the very attentive Vatican "machine" that had planned the funeral liturgy for Bergoglio's last farewell down to the tiniest detail.

A 'machine' that Sapienza knows very well, also because it was his task to supervise the organisation of the ceremonial to ensure that everything was in line with the expressed wishes of Pope Francis. A reserved man, author of numerous publications and a profound connoisseur of the spirituality of Paul VI and John Paul II, Sapienza worked for around thirty years as a protocol officer at the Prefecture of the Papal Household. Then, on 4 August 2012, he was appointed regent in place of Bishop Paolo De Nicolò, who resigned due to age limit.

A figure who moves with elegance and extreme skill behind the scenes. And whose presence, albeit discreet, but fundamental to guaranteeing the perfect execution of the Pontiff's funeral, did not escape the cameras. It was, in fact, Monsignor Sapienza who was immortalised on the arm of former US President Joe Biden, whom he accompanied to his seat. And the priest from Bari also accompanied the dean of the College of Cardinals Giovanni Battista Re and Chamberlain Kevin Joseph Farrell to the last moment at the burial site, the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.

A crucial presence, therefore, for an event, such as the Pope's funeral, that has already gone down in history. But Sapienza also proved essential, as mentioned, when Trump and Zelensky decided to talk to each other to mend the rift at the beginning of March broadcast worldwide by the White House. Thus the monsignor quickly understood the intentions of the two presidents and quickly recovered three sessions. Some suggest why the priest thought the two needed an interpreter to talk to each other. Others, however, attribute the third chair, later shelved, to the willingness of French President Emmanuel Macron - who had greeted the two shortly before with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer - to participate in the confrontation. The widespread feeling, however, is that the role of France and England was not so irrelevant with respect to the organisation of the confrontation between Trump and Zelensky just a few steps away from the coffin of that Pope who to the very end fought for peace. Wisdom took care of the rest and, with his usual efficiency, set the seal on the latest masterpiece of Vatican diplomacy. And of Francis.