Posted on 03/26/2013 11:48:33 AM PDT by NYer
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis has decided not to move into the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace, but to live in a suite in the Vatican guesthouse where he has been since the beginning of the conclave that elected him, said Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, Vatican spokesman.
"He is experimenting with this type of living arrangement, which is simple," but allows him "to live in community with others," both the permanent residents -- priests and bishops who work at the Vatican -- as well as guests coming to the Vatican for meetings and conferences, Father Lombardi said March 26.
The spokesman said Pope Francis has moved out of the room he drew by lot before the conclave and into Suite 201, a room that has slightly more elegant furnishings and a larger living room where he can receive guests.
The Domus Sanctae Marthae, the official name of the guesthouse, was built in 1996 specifically to house cardinals during a conclave.
Celebrating Mass March 26 with the residents and guests, Pope Francis told them he intended to stay, Father Lombardi said. The permanent residents, who had to move out during the conclave, had just returned to their old rooms.
Pope Francis has been there since his election March 13, taking his meals in the common dining room downstairs and celebrating a 7 a.m. Mass with Vatican employees in the main chapel of the residence.
He will be the first pope in 110 years not to live in the papal apartments on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace.
In 1903, St. Pius X became the first pope to live in the apartments overlooking St. Peter's Square. The apartments were completely remodeled by Pope Paul VI in 1964 and have undergone smaller modifications by each pope since, according to "Mondo Vaticano," a Vatican-published mini-encyclopedia about Vatican buildings, offices and tradition.
The large living room or salon of the apartment is located directly above the papal library where official audiences with visiting bishops and heads of state are held.
Pope Francis will continue to use the library for official audiences and to recite the Angelus prayer on Sundays and holy days from the apartment window overlooking St. Peter's Square, Father Lombardi said.
The apartments contain a chapel, an office for the pope and a separate office for his secretaries, the pope's bedroom, a dining room, kitchen and rooms for two secretaries and for the household staff.
When Pope Francis returned to the guesthouse after his election, Father Lombardi had said the move was intended to be short-term while a few small work projects were completed in the papal apartments. He said March 26 that all the work had been completed, but at least for the foreseeable future, Pope Francis would not move in.
The Domus Sanctae Marthae, named after St. Martha, is a five-story building on the edge of Vatican City.
While offering relative comfort, the residence is not a luxury hotel. The building has 105 two-room suites and 26 singles; about half of the rooms are occupied by the permanent residents. Each suite has a sitting room with a desk, three chairs, a cabinet and large closet; a bedroom with dresser, night table and clothes stand; and a private bathroom with a shower.
The rooms all have telephones and access to an international satellite television system.
The building also has a large meeting room and a variety of small sitting rooms. In addition to the dining room and the main chapel, it also has four private chapels, located at the end of hallways on the third and fifth floors of each of the building's two wings.
I appears you have figured this out, or so it appears to this low information non-Catholic. I shall pray for this Pontif to have the wisdom of Solomon and the grace of Nathan.
Thank you! The chapels that I see people pitting together here are really wonderful! I think I’ll be able to visit 7 churches fairly easily here...I was depressed to find, in another big city a couple of years ago in the US, that I couldn’t even find 7churches that were open for Adoration. Go Malta! But I’m afraid change is coming. I’m glad I got here when I did!
Please remove my distinctly un-humble comment. If you or the moderator have already suppressed it, I thank you.
Jesus came to be with sinners. I’m comfortable that Francis isn’t a Marxist. He doesn’t believe that the secular state controls the poor. He knows its his job to minister to them.
I like this Pope
He seem the type that would lunch with common folks in Vatican
I wonder aloud whether the PR folks are putting this stuff out, or if they are getting told to.
I have seen PR guys who need to make a story about everything. If he is truly this humble, he will put and end to these stories—and you will see a change to the communications department.
I’m very sorry if I offended you, dear steve86. Please forgive me.
My problem, not yours. Yours was actually a very insightful comment. Keep ‘em coming, BB.
Well, dear brother in Christ, I can't exactly say that I am a "high-information Catholic." [At least as the "reformers" in the Church would say. After all, the fact that I have read the great encyclicals of Popes {Blessed} John-Paul II and Benedict XVI; and cherish the writings of the great Saints and Doctors of the Church — e.g., Augustine, Aquinas, and Anselm are particularly dear to my soul. After all, what the Church "reformers" really want (it seems to me) is for the Church to simply "go away." To not exist anymore.
RE: Pope Francis: I haven't "figured" anything out. I'm just following this newly-elected Pope around. So far, I find him amazingly gracious, charming, charismatic.
Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio, Archbishop of Buenes Aires, Argentina — now Pope Francis, 266th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church — has a very interesting personal history, in which (among other things) he has had to "speak Truth to Power." At personal cost.
I can't wait to see what happens next.... Though I feel confident Pope Francis will take the time he needs, as mediated by the Holy Spirit, to make his message heard in proper time, both within the Church, and in the wider world.
Dear brother, I so agree with you — Francis will need "the wisdom of Solomon and the grace of Nathan" in the conduct of his papacy.
May You, Dear Lord, Bless and protect Pope Francis!
Lord, hear my prayer!
Thank you so much, dear brother in Christ, for writing!
Amen
The more I hear about this guy, the more I think we’re going to like him.
From what I've seen so far, it also wouldn't surprise me that some of these types of moves are being done -- in part -- intentionally to "shake up" the complacency of the permanent Vatican staff. Basically sending the message that "business as usual" time is over.
If he moved into the fancy digs, then you could hammer him for being a hypocrite. I see.
oThanks for posting that pic. A thousand words.
The amount of cynicism I have already read on this thread is just sad.
Which is business as usual all too often. It takes a really interesting subject, like this, for me to even read a thread any more. Only then will I slog through the boring and predictable morass in hopes of finding good posting like yours and a precious few others.
Thank you! I read some of these threads to get a general sense of what’s going on, and I will say that I’m really puzzled as to why the haters hate Pope Francis so much.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.