What Did Pope Leo Decide at Castel Gandolfo?

The Pope's summer retreat is over. Now comes the moment when Rome begins to reveal whether weeks of prayer, study and consultation have produced major decisions for the Church.

On August 5th, Pope Leo returned to his weekly audiences after a monthlong summer break at Castello Gondolfo. This time is traditionally a month of prayer, reading and reduced public activity. One can only begin to imagine how much stress and public pressure there must constantly be on the Pope, so this seems a very sensible thing to me. The Pope’s schedule for most of the year is relentless. General audiences, daily Angelus appearances, ad limina bishops visits, heads of state, curial meetings, consistories, liturgical celebrations and diplomatic receptions. I really do wonder how it is possible for one man to keep up the pace. So July provides a much needed space. Leo himself said on arriving in Castel Gandolfo that he hoped to spend the weeks with "a little rest, a little prayer, a little reading and, hopefully, a little sport." Even then I imagine that reading probably means reading dossiers, theological works and reports that cannot be digested between meetings.

However, seasoned Vatican-watchers have long recognised that these quieter weeks are often when important decisions mature away from the daily pressures. In previous pontificates many significant appointments were signed immediately after the summer recess because the discussions had largely taken place during July. And of course, the Curia continues working. Dicasteries continue preparing appointments, draft documents, policy papers, disciplinary cases, travel planning, financial decisions and all these reports reach the Pope.

Both Pope St. John Paul II and Benedict XVI frequently used Castel Gandolfo as a place for reflection. Major encyclicals and speeches were often drafted or substantially revised during summer residence there and Pope Leo appears to be reviving something of that tradition after Francis largely abandoned the papal summer residence.

Matteo Matzuzzi in Il Foglio described Pope Leo’s retreat as less of a holiday and more of a pause before tackling several unresolved questions, one of which, Matzuzzi notes, is the current unresolved liturgical drama. This doesn’t mean a decision has been reached, but it does demonstrate that knowledgeable Vatican journalists regard it as one of the significant unresolved matters.