The Vatican has announced that on the afternoon of July 6, Pope Leo will leave Rome to spend several weeks at the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo. He will remain there until July 20.
Unlike his predecessor, Pope Francis, who preferred to spend the entire summer at the Casa Santa Marta, Pope Leo has decided to revive this long-standing tradition.
In Castel Gandolfo, popes typically stay at the Apostolic Palace, which Pope Francis previously turned into a museum open to tourists. For this reason, it is likely that Pope Leo XIV will stay at Villa Barberini.
Villa Barberini features the restored swimming pool in which Pope Saint John Paul II used to swim and was famously photographed in a swimsuit there.
All that is known as of now is that his schedule will include celebrating Mass and praying the Angelus on July 13 and 20. In August, he will return to Castel Gandolfo on the 15th to celebrate the Solemnity of the Assumption and will stay until the 17, only heading back to the Vatican after saying the Angelus there.
BAM
Trans. CRT
