Perhaps his Holiness’s summer reading might include the Nicene Creed
Over the last few weeks, Pope Leo XIV resumed the tradition of popes spending some part of the summer at the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, located in the lakeside town about thirty kilometres south of Rome. He will be the first pope to use the summer residence since 2013, when it was eschewed by Pope Francis in favour of supposedly more frugal accommodations. This ‘frugality’ also included Francis’ decision to reject the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace in favour of the Casa Santa Marta guesthouse (mainly used as a guest-house for visiting clergy or dignitaries).
This, along with the decision not to go to Castel Gandolfo, was constantly parroted by the secular media as evidence of Jorge Bergoglio’s humility. However, as with nearly everything about Francis’ pontificate, it was performative piety – and anything but frugal.
Recent investigations by Italian newspaper Il Tempo revealed that Francis’ decision to live in the Santa Marta guesthouse cost the Vatican almost €200,000 per month, totalling around €29 million over the 12-year pontificate, equivalent to around $AU55 million, thus contributing to the already dire state of the Vatican’s finances.
Is it any wonder Pope Leo wanted to get away for a while?
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