Pope Leo plans to make his Vatican home a flat share with friars

Times

7 hours ago

Three months after his election as the first American pope, Leo XIV is planning to move into the Vatican's papal apartment and is said to be planning to turn it into a flat share, taking a small group of friars with him.
The decision to move housemates into the residence overlooking St Peter's Square would reflect Leo's background as a member of the Augustinian religious order, where friars live in communities and value their spirit of fraternity.
His new room-mates could be three Augustinian friars — an Italian, a Filipino and a Nigerian — who manage Leo's papal wardrobe, the Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported. The Vatican has not commented, suggesting the plan is yet to be formalised.
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Since the Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost was picked as pope in May, he has continued to live in the smaller Vatican apartment he used as a cardinal.
The delay in moving is said to be due, in part, to damp that crept in while it lay empty during the 12-year ­papacy of Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis.
The late pope preferred to take a room in the Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican's residence for visiting priests.
By contrast, Leo has eschewed Francis's unorthodox style, donning traditional papal vestments and spending time at the ­papal summer residence outside Rome, which Francis shunned. But if he moves a group of friars into the Apostolic Palace it will show Leo is not averse to breaking with tradition.
Father Ian Wilson, a Scottish Augustinian who has known Leo since they were students together in Rome, said he had not heard about the plan but was not surprised.
'He has made it clear since his election he is a son of Augustine and believes in the significance of community. I can see he would miss that,' he said.
Founded in the 13th century by hermits who followed the teaching of the 4th-century St Augustine, the Augustinians are headquartered in Rome, where Leo served as prior-general between 2001 and 2013, living with his fellow friars before being made a cardinal by Francis in 2023.
Wilson said that even after his promotion Leo, 69, would often spend time back at the Augustinians' General Curia, yards from the Vatican.
'He always liked to be with other ­friars and when he was a cardinal he would come for morning prayers and Mass at 7.30,' he said. 'He would sometimes have lunch at the General Curia and take whichever chair was free.
Wilson added: 'He loves a good ­conversation and I miss him. I can imagine him wanting to now recreate a community of friars who would pray with him, talk with him and share a joke. He would also like a group around him where he can relax knowing that everything is strictly confidential.'
Father Alejandro Moral Antón, the Spaniard who heads the Augustinians, said Leo had quietly called in at the General Curia on June 1 to join in celebrations for Antón's 70th birthday. 'For us the community of friars is really important. It's a place to talk about anything you want with people you have faith in. It's like family.'