Leo XIV to spend 2 weeks at summer residence

The Pope will arrive at the papal villas in Castel Gandolfo on the afternoon of Sunday, July 6. According to a Vatican source, he will not be staying in the Apostolic Palace, which has now been converted into a museum and is expected to continue welcoming tourists during the pontiff's stay.

Instead, Leo XIV may occupy the Villa Barberini, located about 500 meters from the main palace, near the famous gardens of the villa.

During his stay in Castel Gandolfo, Leo XIV is expected to rest and escape the sweltering heat of Rome. He will only participate in a few public events, beginning with Mass on Sunday, July 13, at 10 a.m. at the parish of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo. This building, designed by Bernini, is named after the patron saint of Villanova University, the Pennsylvania university run by the Order of St. Augustine. Robert Francis Prevost attended Villanova in the 1970s.

At noon on the same day, the Pope will recite the Angelus prayer from the terrace of the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo.

On Sunday, July 20, at 9:30 a.m., he will celebrate Mass at the Cathedral of Albano, his former titular diocese as cardinal, which he entrusted to Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle on May 24.

Castel Gandolfo is part of the suburban diocese of Albano, which extends south of the city of Rome.

At noon, Leo XIV will again recite the Angelus at the Apostolic Palace in Castel Gandolfo before a crowd of faithful gathered in the small town's central square. He will then return to the Vatican in the afternoon.

Leo XIV will make a second visit to the popes' summer villa starting on August 15. That day he will celebrate Mass for the Feast of the Assumption in the pontifical parish of Castel Gandolfo at 10 a.m., then pray the Angelus at noon.

He will lead the Angelus again on Sunday, August 17, and return to the Vatican in the afternoon.

From July 2 to 23, Leo XIV will suspend his Wednesday morning general audiences, as is usually the case during the month of July. He will resume this weekly appointment on July 30. 

According to a Vatican source, the Pope is not expected to make any international trips during this month, which seems to rule out the possibility of a trip to Turkey for the 1700th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea before the autumn. This trip could take place later in the year, possibly for the feast of St. Andrew in late November, which was suggested by Orthodox Patriarch Bartholomew, who was to accompany the Pope on the Turkey trip. Andrew is taken as patron of the Orthodox.

The papal villa of Castel Gandolfo is located in the village of the same name, about 12.5 miles southeast of Rome, on the slopes of the volcanic crater overlooking Lake Albano. The land, which has belonged to the papacy since the end of the 16th century, became the summer residence of the popes in 1626, during the pontificate of Urban VIII.

From the start, the pontiff and his successors used it as a refuge from the summer heat that affects the city of Rome.

Closed after the capture of Rome by Italian troops in 1870, the villa was finally incorporated into the territories of the Holy See by the Lateran Accords signed with Italy in 1929, during the pontificate of Pope Pius XI.

Pius XI considerably modernized the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo. He had a farm and an astronomical observatory built there, which are still in operation today. His successor, Pius XII, welcomed large numbers of refugees fleeing the Nazis, as the territory enjoyed sovereign extraterritoriality during the Second World War. Several buildings were bombed during that conflict, but they were restored after the war.

Subsequently, popes came more regularly to the villa in Castel Gandolfo. From the pontificate of John XXIII onwards, they took the habit of reciting the Angelus prayer in public during their summer stays there. Pius XII died there in 1958 and Paul VI in 1978.

John Paul II and Benedict XVI stayed there frequently, with the latter remaining there after his resignation from February to May 2013.

John Paul II had a swimming pool built there, which is currently being renovated, according to a Vatican source.

Pope Francis, on the other hand, never slept there and only visited in 2013, before the palace was converted into a museum open to tourists. During the summer, the Argentine pontiff stayed at the Santa Marta residence, his year-round “vacation spot” in the Vatican. However, in 2023, the pope created the Borgo Laudato si', a place dedicated to integral ecology located on the grounds of the papal residence.

Pope Leo XIV already visited Castel Gandolfo on May 29. He visited the Borgo Laudato si' and the archaeological ruins of the cryptoporticus of the Villa of Emperor Domitian, located in the current papal gardens.