Pope Leo XIV will share the papal apartments with a group of select individuals when the pontiff moves in later this year, according to recent Italian media reports.
The Pope previously announced he would live inside the apartment rooms of the 16th-century Apostolic Palace days after his papal election, breaking with the precedent set by his predecessor Pope Francis, who rejected the luxurious accommodation when he became pope in 2013.
The 10 rooms of the apartment complex are being extensively renovated for Pope Leo, La Repubblica reported on Tuesday, with three or four individuals apparently set to live alongside him, the Daily Telegraph reports.
The Pope’s Peruvian personal secretary, Father Edgard Rimaycuna, is expected to be among those invited to share the apartment.
The Telegraph notes that this appears to be the first time in modern history that a pope has shared his official living quarters on the third floor of the palace, in effect having “flatmates” like many humble residents of the world.
“It seems to be new to me,” Vatican correspondent Iacopo Scaramuzzi told the Telegraph. “I don’t know if that takes account of the long history of the Church but certainly in the modern era.”
Immediately after Pope Francis’s death on 21 April earlier this year, and in keeping with Vatican tradition, seals were placed on the doors of the apartment, even though the late pope never lived there.
Francis had instead spent the 12 years of his pontificate in the simply furnished Santa Marta residence inside the Vatican, explaining that he preferred daily contact with ordinary people.
“In my opinion, Leo is definitely different to Francis but not that different,” Mr Scaramuzzi says. “He is returning to the papal apartments, but not like a king.”
Mr Scaramuzzi says it is unclear at this stage exactly whom the Pope’s companions would be. He highlighted that the idea of sharing accommodation was in keeping with the ethos of community that is so important to the Augustinians, the international religious order of friars to which Pope Leo belongs.
The Apostolic Palace apartment has been the official residence of popes since 1870 and it is customary for a new pope to renovate the apartments, the Telegraph reports. Though it notes that the Vatican has been "tight-lipped about the latest restructure", during which teams of technicians have spent months working on a redesign of the rooms. They have also had to deal with damage caused by water infiltration and humidity in the 12 years that the apartment remained empty.
On Sundays, the Pope traditionally blesses crowds of people and pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square from the window of the apartment, which includes the Pope’s bedroom, a private study and a medical suite. Three of the last six popes, John XXIII, John Paul I and John Paul II, died inside the papal apartment.
Pope Leo spent 12 years living in the Curia of the St Augustinian Order just outside St. Peter’s Square when he was prior-general of the order from 2001 to 2013, and he has often spoken about the importance of living in community with others.
While the renovations are completed on the papal apartment, he is living in the Sagrestia building next to St Peter’s Basilica.
This summer, Pope Leo also revived the papal habit of holidaying at the summer residence located in Castel Gandolfo near Rome, re-establishing another tradition that Pope Francis had broken with during his pontificate.
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Photo: Pope Leo XIV at the summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, Rome, Italy, 17 August 2025. (Photo by EVANDRO INETTI/Vatican Pool/AFP via Getty Images.)
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