Pope Leo arrived on Sunday at Castel Gandolfo’s summer retreat and began a six-week holiday, which left the hilltop town with its most outstanding residents after Pope Francis stayed in his 12-year period.
Leo greets the kind-hearted, who welcomes him on the main road into the town, and then waves from the balcony of the villa, and he will stay for what he calls a “short break.”
“I hope everyone can spend a vacation time to recover and get physically and mentally,” Leo said before leaving the Vatican during Sunday’s midday prayer.
The Chicago native, 69, is returning to the pope tradition of leaving the Vatican in hot summers to support Castel Gandolfo’s relatively cool climate overlooking Lake Alban on the hills of southern Rome. The region has been a favorite holiday for Roman rulers since the time of the first century emperor Domitian.
This is the first break after Leo’s release ceremony, outings and holy year celebrations in the weeks after the election as the first American pope in history on May 8. He will hold some public events during the holidays—Public, Sunday noon prayers, and even some events in the Vatican—but officials hope he will use his time to rest, think about and read the key issues facing his new purpose.
“He has been working, working, working since his election. It's time for him to gain more energy and build strength for his mission,” said the sister nun of Uganda, who welcomes Leo on Sunday.
“It’s good for the whole town”
Pope Urban VIII built the Pope's Palace in Castel Gandolfo in 1624, allowing the Pope to escape from Rome. It has expanded to its current 55 hectares (136 acres) due to the successor, which is larger than the Vatican city itself. On the ground is a working farm, a manicured garden, an observatory run by Jesuit astronomers, and recently the Center for Environmental Education (reputed) inspired by Francis' 2015 Laudato Si.
The pope used it regularly in the summer, attracting a large number of pilgrims who would come on Sunday to listen to his noon blessing, which was delivered in the courtyard inside the palace. Pope Benedict XVI announced his Pope in the estate on February 28, 2013.
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The town’s decision suffered an initial economic blow. But then Francis turned the Papal Palace and the Garden into a year-round museum, opening it to the public, providing the town with a year-round tourism level that ultimately benefited it.
“He made these structures possible, and the pope hasn't done it in 400 years,” said Simone Mariani, who runs a restaurant in town that benefits from a stable process for visitors, far exceeding the past summer Sunday crowd. “He brought tourism that was good for the whole town.”
But this still doesn't make up for the abandonment of a town whose rhythm is passed down from generation to generation, surrounding the regular Pope visits.
Patrizia Gasperini said that whenever the pope arrives, the palace doors will open, the Swiss Guard will draw attention, and the town will come to life, with his family running a souvenir shop in the main square just steps from the front door of the palace.
“All year round, we miss colors, sports, but we know summer is coming and he will come back,” she said. “So when Pope Francis decided not to come, we were upset at the emotional level outside the economic level.”
Important church documents
Since the palace has become a museum, Leo will actually stay in Villa Barberini, a smaller real estate residence that once was the Vatican Secretary of State when the Pope was in town.
Mayor Alberto de Angelis said he hopes Leo will not only decide to use Castel Gandolfo, not only for summer vacation, but also for regular holidays for the rest of the year, just like St. John Paul II.
There is also a tradition where the pope used their time at Castel Gandolfo to draft important church documents and encyclopedias, which De Angelis said he wanted Leo to follow.
“We hope Pope Leo can produce some text, some of which have a comprehensive global influence,” he said. “Then he could say it was from Castel Gandolfo, who was inspired and made this text for the world from here.”
–Winfield reported on Rome.
& Copy 2025 Canadian Press
