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Pope Leo XIV Begins July Vacation at Castel Gandolfo Papal Estate
Pope Leo XIV began a summer break on July 5 at the papal estate south of Rome. He will remain there until July 27 with all audiences suspended and will stay in the Apostolic Palace. The vacation follows recent decisions on artificial intelligence, slavery, and church discipline.
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Pope Leo XIV began a summer vacation on Sunday, July 5, 2026, at the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo. @ABC reported that he will spend the rest of July at the estate south of Rome and remain there until July 27 with all audiences suspended. The Vatican confirmed that Leo will move into the Apostolic Palace overlooking Lake Alban rather than the smaller villa used previously.
Pope Francis had converted the palace into a public museum during his pontificate. Leo spent July 4 on the Sicilian island of Lampedusa praying at a migrant cemetery. @ABC reported that he ended a visit to Spain last month with a similar gesture at a dock in the Spanish Canary Islands.
In late May 2026 Leo released his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas. The document called for robust regulation of artificial intelligence and stated it was not permissible to entrust irreversible lethal decisions to AI systems. It also contained an apology for the Holy See’s role in facilitating slavery, describing the Vatican’s record as a wound in Christian memory.
On Thursday the Vatican declared the Society of St. Pius X in schism and excommunicated its bishops and priests. The SSPX estimates its lay faithful number around a half-million worldwide, and the Vatican warned them that they risk excommunication for participating in the schism.
Leo was elected on May 8, 2025. -Israel war in Iran.
