Pope Leo has slipped back into work somewhat quietly this week, after driving back to the Vatican on Monday evening at the conclusion of a four-week holiday in Castel Gandolfo. He returned to the papal villa just a few days later when, on Wednesday evening, he hosted a concert for peace in the courtyard of the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo. As is customary for such high-level papal events, the seats were filled with diplomats, Vatican officials and carefully selected guests, while Andrea Bocelli and children’s choirs performed on stage for the “Canticle of Peace” event.
Looking past the pleasantries of the evening, the main headlines went to Leo’s brief conversation with NBC News, which had secured the English-language streaming rights for the event. He hinted at his forthcoming American trip, saying that, although nothing was set in stone, he would be there “soon”, after looking at the calendar for the next few years.
Earlier that day, the Holy See press office had published the daily list of Leo’s private audiences – the first since his holiday began – with Cardinals Victor Manuel Fernández and Reinhard Marx the most prominent names included. This prompted some outlets to theorise about panicked meetings between the Pope and the two cardinals in response to pushback in Marx’s diocese over same-sex blessings. However, the Herald can clarify that the press office stated that the meetings had been held separately over the previous few days, rather than hastily packed into Leo’s first day back, and were therefore not indicative of any response to Marx’s diocesan crisis.
Italy may be in holiday mode during August, especially in Rome as residents escape the heat that has battered the city all summer, but Leo is not following suit. His general audiences resume on Wednesday next week, after being on hiatus throughout July.
The next day, August 6, he will fly to Assisi for the feast of the Transfiguration, where he will meet children taking part in the “Go! Franciscan Youth Meeting”. Leo will greet them en masse in an audience, fielding some prepared questions and then offering Mass in the historic and immensely beautiful Basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli, which houses the Portiuncula. The hilltop town of Assisi is currently marking the 800th anniversary of St Francis’s death. It saw a visit from Leo last November, before displaying St Francis’s relics to hundreds of thousands of pilgrims for a few weeks earlier this year.
For the feast of the Assumption, Leo will wend his way to Castel Gandolfo and celebrate Mass at the Parish of St Thomas of Villanova, in the central piazza of the papal hillside town. His return to the customary summer residence of the popes has delighted locals, and his decision to do so appears to be motivated by a healthy mix of respect for tradition and the support that his presence brings to the local economy, as much as it is born out of a desire to have secluded time away from the hustle of Rome.
On August 22, the Pope will undertake two public engagements outside the Eternal City. In the morning, he will head to the Republic of San Marino for a pastoral visit to the microstate. Predominantly Catholic, the tiny state of San Marino has the peculiarity of not having its own national diocese and is part of the larger San Marino-Montefeltro Diocese.
In the afternoon, Leo will travel to Rimini for the 47th Meeting for Friendship among Peoples. Leo sent a message to the annual conference last year, but for this edition he will attend briefly in person. It is organised by the lay Catholic movement “Communion and Liberation”, which has been undergoing some internal turmoil of late following new statutes for the organisation issued by the Vatican in November. Leo’s visit may well be a quietly diplomatic move to calm the waters of the influential group with the favour of a papal visit.
On August 29, he will return to Castel Gandolfo once more to offer Mass at the lakeside church of Santa Maria Santissima del Lago. Although confirmation is normally given weekly, it is presumed that Leo will also continue his regular Tuesday visits to Castel Gandolfo during this period.
After a relatively quiet September – at least as far as has been announced – Leo will make a highly anticipated apostolic journey to France from September 25 to 28. The official programme has yet to be released but, thanks to the French bishops, Dispatch readers already have an inkling of the itinerary. The first two days will be based in Paris, including Vespers in the newly restored Notre-Dame Cathedral. As momentous as the visit by the Pontiff to the Eldest Daughter of the Church will be, whimsical readers and liturgical commentators will be equally keen to see whether Leo uses the much-ridiculed new vestments for Vespers in the cathedral, or whether less multicoloured options are available.
He will also celebrate Mass close to the Grotto in Lourdes on the Sunday, before heading to Saint-Étienne Cathedral in Metz on the final day of the trip for a closing Mass.
From October 7 to 14, Leo will host presidents of national bishops’ conferences for a meeting to discuss Amoris Laetitia at its 10th anniversary. The General Secretariat has been tasked to “offer organisational and methodological support”, while responsibility for the meeting technically rests with the Dicastery for Laity, Family and Life.
Amoris Laetitia was one of the most controversial documents of Pope Francis’s reign, and there is much speculation about whether Leo will use the meeting quietly to do away with Francis’s argument for the admission of divorced and “remarried” Catholics to Holy Communion. Cardinal Walter Brandmüller had previously stated in 2015 that the interpretation of Amoris Laetitia that Francis later approved would be heretical – hence canonists are keen that the debate about the text’s future should not be sidelined.
As if this were not enough, yet more travels are looming for the American Pontiff. As regular Catholic Herald Dispatch readers first read on these pages back in January, a visit to South America is widely rumoured to be on the Pope’s autumn calendar, although the Vatican has not officially confirmed it. Uruguay, Peru and Argentina are all understood to form part of the trip.
Montevideo’s Cardinal Daniel Sturla stated this month that the Vatican would release details of the trip in July itself, suggesting that an announcement was imminent.
While the Vatican has not yet commented on the voyage, Peru’s President José María Balcázar has confirmed that Leo will visit the nation in early November. As part of an extensive schedule involving visits to many towns, Leo is expected to return to the city of Chiclayo, where he spent eight years leading the diocese as the local bishop.
On the Pope’s public calendar for November, he is currently due to give general audiences only on November 4, 18 and 25, suggesting that he could be in South America at any time from November 5 to 17.
The political and ecclesial significance of this voyage deserves much closer attention and, following confirmation of the schedule, Herald Dispatch readers will be given a detailed analysis.
Michael Haynes is an English journalist in the Holy See Press Corps. He serves as Vatican Correspondent for the Catholic Herald, while readers can follow him at Per Mariam and on X/Twitter @MLJHaynes.
