Pope takes summer break but with plenty of homework
VATICAN CITY—Pope Leo XIV begins a six-week vacation starting this weekend, in his first break since his historic election on May 8.
Leo is resuming the papal tradition of escaping the Roman heat for the relatively cooler climes of Castel Gandolfo, the papal summer retreat on Lake Albano, south of Rome.
People who know and work with Leo expect he will use these weeks away from the public eye and the daily grind of Vatican audiences to get his head around the most pressing problems facing the Church.
They say he’s a methodical, hard-working and well-prepared manager who wants to read entire reports, not just executive summaries, before making decisions.
Here is a look at Leo’s summer homework, the outstanding dossiers he may be studying from now until Aug. 17 in between dips in the pool, walks in the gardens and occasional Masses, prayers and visits in town.
Big nominations
After his election, Leo reappointed all Vatican prefects until further notice, so the Holy See machinery is still working with the old guard in place.
But a few major appointments await, most importantly to fill Leo’s old job as prefect of the office that vets bishop nominations.
Leo also has to decide who will be his No. 2. The Vatican secretary of state, the equivalent of a prime minister, is still Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Pope Francis’ pick who was himself an unsuccessful contender in the conclave that elected Leo pope.
Sex cases
There are plenty of high-profile clergy sex cases that festered during Francis’ pontificate that are now are on Leo’s desk.
History’s first American pope will be watched closely to see how he handles them, since he cannot claim ignorance about abuse or its dynamics, given the devastation the scandals have wrought in the United States.
On the eve of his vacation, he made an important appointment, naming French Bishop Thibault Verny head of the Vatican’s child protection advisory board, replacing the retiring American Cardinal Sean O’Malley.
There is no case more pressing than that of Rev. Marko Rupnik, a famous mosaic artist who was belatedly thrown out of the Jesuits after its superiors determined he sexually, psychologically and spiritually abused two dozen adult women and nuns.
Even though the case didn’t involve minors, it became a toxic problem for Francis because of suggestions Rupnik received favorable treatment at the Vatican under the Jesuit pope.
Nearly two years after Francis caved into pressure to reopen the Rupnik file, the Vatican has finally found external canon lawyers to hear the case.
With Francis’ death, the case may be less politically delicate, even as the priest’s supporters maintain his innocence.
The Becciu case
Another legal headache facing Leo is what to do about Cardinal Angelo Becciu and the Vatican’s “trial of the century,” which is heading into the appeals phase in September.
The city-state’s criminal tribunal in 2023 convicted Becciu and eight others of financial crimes stemming from the Holy See’s bungled 350 million euro ($412 million) investment in a London property.
But the trial was itself problematic, with the defense claiming that basic defense rights weren’t respected since Francis intervened on several occasions in favor of prosecutors.
There have been new revelations since the verdict that Vatican gendarmes and prosecutors were apparently in regular touch with a woman who was coaching the star witness into testifying against Becciu.
The once-powerful cardinal has denounced the contacts as evidence that his conviction had been orchestrated.
Leo, a canon lawyer, may want to steer clear of this case but will ultimately have to decide what to do with Becciu, who recused himself from the conclave but remains a cardinal with a very unclear status.
A town awaits
Meanwhile residents of Castel Gandolfo are aching for a pope to return. Francis had decided not to use the retreat and instead spent his 12 papal summers at home, in the Vatican.
Townsfolks said they can’t wait for Leo to take up residence and enjoy the Castel Gandolfo’s gorgeous lake views and quiet starry nights. They say it’s the perfect place for a pope to rest, read, write and think in private.
“Remember, many encyclicals were written here,” noted Rev. Tadeusz Rozmus, the town’s parish priest.
But Leo’s old diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, is also waiting for their bishop to come home.
Then, there’s Argentina, which never got a papal visit from the first-ever Argentine pope.
