It is an ordinary Sunday in St. Peter’s Square. Thousands of people wait for Pope Benedict XVI to appear at his apartment window. In just a few minutes, the Angelus prayer will begin.
Meanwhile… inside the Apostolic Palace, on the third floor, the pope reviews his commentary on the day’s Gospel reading. He is in his private study, one of the rooms of the papal apartment.
He is accompanied by his personal secretary, Georg Gänswein… Everything is ready… And then, right at noon, Benedict XVI steps out…
About 12 minutes later, after giving his blessing to the faithful, Pope Benedict returns to his office. He still has to review some documents that will require his approval.
Once signed, Gänswein takes them to this adjoining room. It is the office of his secretaries. In these two rooms, the more bureaucratic work of a papacy takes place.
Take note, because this is the same room that Pope St. John Paul II also used as an office, but as you can see, there are some differences compared to Benedict’s.
The most notable differences: many more bookshelves and the desk—all moved at Benedict’s request from his previous home. The desk is special because it had accompanied him since his time as a professor in Germany.
He also asked for the removal of the carpet that had previously covered the palace and for the restoration of the 16th-century marble floor.
Since Pope Pius X decided to establish the pope’s residence on this floor of the Apostolic Palace at the beginning of the 20th century, each papacy brought new aesthetic or practical changes.
Gänswein recounts in his book that Pope Paul VI decided to have the walls painted gray. JP II did not request modifications, meanwhile, but due to his illness, a small infirmary had to be installed for his care.
In any case, the apartment on the third floor has a total of about ten rooms... and among them, facing St. Peter’s Square, is a unique one:
It is the private library room or a meeting room. Here you can see it from two perspectives: JP II receiving a visit and holding a meeting at the central table.
Also, Benedict XVI at the desk during an audience. According to Gänswein, the Pope met every evening with one of his secretaries to deal with various matters. Here he is with Cardinal Bertone, then Secretary of State, who he usually met with on Mondays.
But that is not all. Here are some of the more common rooms of the palace. This green sitting room, for example, where Benedict and his secretaries would relax and maybe watch television. Or this everyday kitchen scene...
Here you can see what a dinner at Benedict XVI’s residence was like, accompanied by his secretaries and Fr. Giertych, who, since 2005, has been the Theologian of the Pontifical Household.
But if one had to highlight the most special room of the Apostolic Palace, it would be the chapel. It was commissioned by Paul VI with a clear vision: that it be a place intended solely for prayer and recollection. It was inaugurated on November 1, 1964.
And all of this on the third floor. Gänswein explained that there is a fourth floor accessible by elevator. And there were more rooms there. To help you locate them, they are above the large windows. The secretaries and the nuns in charge of the household have lived there historically.
There are no official details from the Vatican, but it seems that Pope Leo had the papal bedroom moved from the third to the fourth floor.
In the afternoon, the lights you see on are usually these three: those of the study and the secretary’s office… and then at night, the lights you see are the ones above, where the pope would now have his bedroom.
In any case, what is clear after ten months of renovation work is that Pope Leo has adapted the space to his own style and needs; and given the weight of papal duties, it is only fitting that he should feel at home.
