Pope Benedict XVI will spend his summer vacation praying, reading and writing, according to his official spokesman.
“I
was also struck in the past, talking to the Pope’s personal secretary,
who said to me very naturally: ‘The best way for the Pope to rest is for
him to study and write about theology, Sacred Scripture, because they
are topics that fascinate him,’” said Fr. Federico Lombardi, S.J., in a
July 7 interview with Vatican Radio.
The Pope left today for his
summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, a tiny hilltop village overlooking
Lake Albano, just 15 miles south east of Rome. The town has been the
traditional holiday spot for Popes since the 15th century.
“He
enjoys his stay at Castel Gandolfo very much and perhaps has a greater
guarantee of the rest which he needs and desires by going directly to
Castel Gandolfo, rather than traveling to an unfamiliar place for a
short period,” the papal spokesman said, referring to Pope John Paul
II’s preference for sometimes vacationing in the Italian mountains.
Fr.
Lombardi says that Pope Benedict chooses the familiar surroundings of
Castel Gandolfo “in his discretion and kindness,” as it makes for more
relaxed summer atmosphere for all the papal entourage, particularly the
security staff.
The papal spokesman describes the village as “a
quiet place, where even the altitude is suitable - cooler than Rome, but
not particularly high. It has gardens to walk in, and environments
conducive to the Pope’s intellectual and cultural work as well as for
time spent in prayer, both particularly dear to him.”
But Pope
Benedict’s summer will not be overly relaxed by most people’s standards.
He has a trip to World Youth Day in Spain planned for mid-August and a
September pilgrimage to his homeland of Germany. He also intends to use
his stay at Castel Gandolfo to finish his three-volume biography of
Jesus.
“He told us he wanted to complete it with a third volume, though smaller, perhaps a bit different in nature and approach, which is about his (Jesus’) childhood, about the infancy Gospels,” said Fr. Lombardi.
“He told us he wanted to complete it with a third volume, though smaller, perhaps a bit different in nature and approach, which is about his (Jesus’) childhood, about the infancy Gospels,” said Fr. Lombardi.
“He has already started working on it in his free
periods of the past months, but probably this is the right time to bring
the work to a conclusion or at least to forge ahead on it.”
On
top of all that, Pope Benedict will still greet pilgrims every Sunday
with his noontime Angelus address.
One regularly scheduled meeting that
will be off his plate is his weekly Wednesday audience, which is
canceled for the month of July.
The Pope will return to Rome in September.