Vatican City, Jul 7, 2011 / 12:10 pm
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.