(ZENIT News / Vatican City, 06.17.2025).- For the first time in over a decade, the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo will once again house a reigning pope. The Vatican confirmed on June 17 that Pope Leo XIV will reside in the historic summer retreat from July 6 to August 17, 2025.
Pope Leo, the first Augustinian to occupy the papacy and the first pope from the United States, will revive a tradition once so closely associated with the rhythm of the Vatican year that its absence was itself a statement. Pope Francis never spent his summers in Castel Gandolfo. Instead, he remained in his suite at Casa Santa Marta within the Vatican walls, leaving the palatial villa unused except as a museum.
The hilltop retreat, perched above the placid waters of Lake Albano and surrounded by the Hills, has long served as a quiet refuge for popes. Leo XIV’s decision to return there after twelve years of dormancy is as much logistical as symbolic — an embrace of tradition, rest, and perhaps a different vision of the papacy.
While the residence itself is largely closed to the public — only a few galleries showcasing vestments and portraits from previous pontificates remain open — the pope’s visit will bring life back to the once-vacant halls. Beyond its Renaissance architecture and ornate salons, Castel Gandolfo is a place steeped in papal memory, one that housed pontiffs through wars, reforms, and personal retreats for centuries.
The Prefecture of the Papal Household has outlined a relatively quiet schedule for Pope Leo during his stay. He will depart for the villa on Sunday, July 6. On Sunday, July 13, he will celebrate Mass at the Pontifical Parish of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castel Gandolfo and recite the Angelus from the Piazza della Libertà at noon. A similar routine is planned for Sunday, July 20, when the pope will celebrate Mass in the nearby Cathedral of Albano before returning again to address pilgrims from the same piazza.
Public audiences — both private and general — will be suspended throughout July, including the regular Wednesday gatherings on the 2nd, 9th, 16th, and 23rd. They will resume in Rome on July 30.
In mid-August, the pope will once again appear in Castel Gandolfo: on Friday, August 15, the Feast of the Assumption, he will celebrate Mass in the Castel Gandolfo parish and deliver the Angelus at noon. His final Angelus during the summer stay is scheduled for Sunday, August 17, after which he will return to the Vatican.
The return to Castel Gandolfo also echoes a moment of papal history. In March 2013, shortly after his election, Pope Francis made his one and only visit to the villa to meet with the recently retired Pope Benedict XVI — a quiet yet unprecedented encounter between two living pontiffs. Francis would never return and in 2016 formally transformed it into a museum.
Pope Leo’s decision to reclaim the residence for its original purpose suggests a nuanced departure from the approach of his immediate predecessor. Not necessarily a return to pomp, but to rhythm — to the idea that rest and retreat have a place within the life of the papacy.
“This doesn’t mean we’re going backward,” commented one Vatican observer. “It might just mean that Pope Leo sees value in stepping out of the constant spotlight to reflect, regroup, and pray — and Castel Gandolfo offers the space for that.”
Pope Leo XIV, in returning, isn’t merely seeking fresh air — he may also be sending a message: that continuity and change can live side by side, even in the Church’s oldest rooms.
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