Benedict XVI to return to Castel Gandolfo

Tuesday, June 23rd, 2015

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Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI is expected to spend two weeks at the papal summer residence Castel Gandolfo during the Italian summer.

Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi said Pope Francis invited Benedict to spend some time at Castel Gandolfo and Benedict accepted.

The dates for Benedict’s visit have not been set.

But he is scheduled to receive an honorary doctorate from a Polish university there on July 3, in recognition of his concern for sacred music.

Last year, Benedict reportedly asked Francis if he was taking a holiday, and Francis replied that this was not his habit and he would stay at the Vatican.

So Benedict decided to do likewise.

Francis has not spent a night at Castel Gandolfo during his papacy.

He visited Benedict there shortly after being elected in 2013, following Benedict’s resignation.

A papal Mass is traditionally celebrated on the feast of the Assumption at Castel Gandolfo, and Francis did this in 2013.

He also recited the Angelus there in July, 2013.

But last year he was in Korea on August 15.

According to reports last month, Francis has been planning to turn the papal summer residence into a museum, which the public can enter for a small fee.

This has reportedly raised eyebrows at the Vatican, where officials fear that if a future pope wants to use the summer residence again, it might be difficult to do so.

Last year, the Vatican has opened up the residence’s Bernini-landscaped gardens to the public.

There have been fears that the loss of pilgrims coming to see the pope at least on the Sundays of July and August is likely to have an economic impact on the town about 25 kms south of Rome.

Since the early 17th century, about 50 per cent of popes have used Castel Gandolfo as a summer residence.

Benedict currently lives at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery in the Vatican Gardens.

Francis spends “working holidays” at the Vatican, but with a scaled back workload.

Sources