Pope Leo XIV to revive papal holidays at summer palace

Catholic faithful attend a mass held at Rate Field, home to the Chicago White Sox, to celebrate the election of Pope Leo XIV on June 14, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. [AFP]

Pope Leo XIV will holiday twice at the papal palace in Castel Gandolfo near Rome this summer, reviving a tradition abandoned by his predecessor Francis, the Vatican said Tuesday.

The US pope, elected on May 8, will stay at the villa some 25 kilometres (15 miles) southeast of the Italian capital for a "period of rest" between July 6 and 20, the papal household said in a statement.

Leo will celebrate mass during his stay and recite the weekly Angelus prayer there on July 13 and 20.

He will return to Castel Gandolfo on August 15 to celebrate a religious festival, before coming back to the Vatican on August 17.

The hilltop palace, with its view over Lake Albano, has been owned by the Holy See since 1596 and has long been a summer favourite with popes hoping to escape the heat of the capital.

It has expanded over the centuries to now sprawl over 55 hectares (135 acres), which include an organic farm housing cows, free-range hens, cockerels and bees.

Francis visited a few times during his 12-year papacy but never stayed, instead transforming the private apartments into a museum in 2016.

His absence was not exceptional -- of the 33 popes who could have stayed there only around half have done so.

But Francis's predecessor, Benedict XVI, enjoyed many summers there, and even went to the palace for a while after he resigned in 2013.