In the Catholic Church, there is a basic distinction between two "types" of priests. Some priests are "diocesan," also known as "secular," meaning that they serve a certain geographical region, a diocese, under the leadership of a local bishop. Other priests are known as "religious" priests as they form part of a religious community - a congregation or religious order, such as the Jesuits (like Pope Francis), the Dominicans, the Franciscans, or the Augustinians (like Pope Leo). There are also monks, but so as to keep this simple, you can read about them here.
Religious priests have similarity with nuns -- they take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and most often, live with other members of their spiritual family, forming a type of home life, or community life.
This distinction has been highlighted with the current and recent popes. Popes John Paul II and Benedict were diocesan priests, having been ordained for the Dioceses of Krakow, Poland, and Munich, Germany; while Francis, like Leo, was a religious priest. All four of them went on to serve as local bishops, since bishops can be named from either "type" of priest. But Leo and Francis also both exercised leadership roles within their spiritual families.
Francis famously chose not to live in the apostolic palace because he said that he needed to be among the people. He thus chose to stay in Casa Santa Marta, a type of Vatican hotel.
Now it seems that Pope Leo is finding a similar way to "stay among the people," particularly among his religious community.
A move to the Apostolic Palace in the fall?
For the time being, the 267th pope is still living on the second floor of the Palace of the Holy Office, where he resided before his election. The daily newspaper La Repubblica reports that he is expected to remain there “at least until the end of September” and that he will move into the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace in the fall, once the extensive renovations of the residence — which had been left abandoned during Pope Francis' pontificate — are complete.
The Italian newspaper envisages that this 10-room apartment will be home to a “small community of three or four Augustinians” from the Pope's religious congregation along with Leo XIV and his secretary, the Peruvian priest Edgar Rimaycuna.
These could be the three religious who make up the “papal sacristy,” responsible for preparing the pope's liturgical celebrations.
These Augustinians — one Italian, one Filipino, and one Nigerian — currently live near the Sistine Chapel. “Sometimes the current pope goes to lunch with these religious,” the prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine, Spanish priest Alejandro Moral Antón, told I.MEDIA last June.
Father Moral said he suggested to the new pope “that it would be good to form a small community of brothers around him who would study, pray, and live with him” in the Apostolic Palace.
“Leo XIV could talk with them and go for walks [...]. The pope is very alone and bears heavy responsibilities,” he reflected.
A busy vacation and return to Rome
After seven days of rest at the popes' summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Leo XIV returned to the Vatican on the evening of August 19, 2025.
Before returning to Rome, the pontiff visited the Marian shrine of Mentorella, a place dear to John Paul II.
Leaving his residence in Castel Gandolfo in the evening, Pope Leo XIV briefly responded to journalists who asked him about the peace negotiations in Ukraine. “There is hope, but we still need to work hard, pray hard, and truly seek the way forward, to find peace,” the pope said, according to Vatican News.
During his second stay in Castel Gandolfo — after two weeks in July — Leo XIV presided over various public celebrations. He celebrated Mass on the Feast of the Assumption (August 15) in the parish of San Tommaso da Villanova in Castel Gandolfo and a Mass for the poor at the shrine of Santa Maria della Rotonda in Albano on August 17. He also shared his Sunday lunch with about 100 people in need.
Back in Rome, on August 20 he presided over the Wednesday general audience, his weekly meeting with the faithful during which he delivers a catechesis. Last Wednesday, he spent nearly two hours greeting the crowds that filled the Paul VI Hall and St. Peter's Basilica, sheltered from the scorching Roman sun.
