Sunday Times 2
Pope shuns regal papal apartments for simple home
View(s):By Mario Ledwith
His impromptu walkabouts and trips on the bus have already garnered him a reputation as the People’s Pontiff. Now Pope Francis has bolstered his humble reputation by shunning the Vatican City’s papal apartment preferred by his predecessors for a simple suite at a hotel-style building.
Simple: The bedroom of Pope Francis current, and preferred, residence at the Domus Sanctae Martae building
The grand apartment on top of the Apostolic Palace, featuring more than 12 rooms and a terrace, is ready for the newly-elected head of the Catholic Church to move in to. But Francis has shown no desire to move in, preferring the 130-room Domus Santa Martha building, where he stayed during the conclave that elected him on March 13.
His initial tenure at the residence had been in a miniscule single room but he recently upgraded to a more spacious suite to work and host visitors. Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi said the pope had given no indication of when he would move out of the two-bedroom residence.
Mr Lombardi did not however say that Francis is using rooms at his palace apartment to conduct meetings and audiences. Francis, who is the first South American and Jesuit pontiff, has already signalled a move towards a less formal papacy. The decision to eschew the more glamorous property is in keeping with his desire for the religion to become a ‘poor church, for the poor’ and to prioritise disadvantaged groups.
It also follows from his time as the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, when he opted for a simple apartment over the official archbishop’s palace – also wearing old shoes and using the bus as a chosen form of transport. Francis has set a more austere tone for the papacy than his predecessor Benedict XVI, who gained a reputation for sumptuous costumes.
Mr Lombardi says the new pope enjoys his current residence’s community atmosphere where he lives alongside other clergy.
The pope says mass in its chapel every morning and invites Vatican workers and other guests to attend.
‘I can’t make long-term predictions, but for now it seems he is experimenting with this type of simple co-habitation,’ Lombardi said.
‘It is still a period of getting used to things, of experimentation. Certainly in this phase he has expressed the desire to stay where he is,’ he said.
Lombardi said the pope will be using the offices in the Apostolic Palace and its grand, frescoed reception rooms to meet heads of state and delegations, and will continue to appear each Sunday to deliver a blessing from the window of the papal apartments overlooking St. Peter’s Square.
© Daily Mail, London
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