Pope Francis in no hurry to move into papal apartment

Rumors are swirling inside and outside the Vatican about where Pope Francis intends to take up residence.

The initial expectation was that he would move into the formal papal apartment on the top floor of the Apostolic Palace, the building where popes have lived for centuries.

But Pope Francis appears to be in no hurry. More than a week after his election, he’s still residing in the Vatican’s modern guest house, the Domus Sanctae Marthae, where he eats meals with others in the common dining room and can walk to some of his appointments in the Vatican.

Yesterday I asked the Vatican spokesman, Father Federico Lombardi, if the pope had decided where to live, and he said, “Let’s wait and see.”

When the new pope took a tour of the 10-room papal apartment a few days ago, he was said to have remarked, “Three hundred people could live here.” As a cardinal in Buenos Aires, he chose to live in a small apartment instead of the archbishop’s mansion.

The Vatican earlier talked about the need for some renovation work before the pope moved into the Apostolic Palace. But the apartment received an extensive makeover in 2005 after Pope Benedict’s election, and it’s hard to believe Pope Francis would want to spend more money on redecorating.

There are arguments for the pope living in the Apostolic Palace, of course. He’s close to the Vatican’s diplomatic nerve center and several other major offices, he’s close to the formal meeting rooms where he receives guests and he has a bird’s-eye view from the window where pilgrims still expect to receive his blessing every Sunday.

If he were to stay in the Domus, which lies on the other side of St. Peter’s Basilica, he would effectively be out of the loop of the daily papal program, Vatican officials argue.

There are also rumors that Pope Francis could decide to reside in the empty papal apartment at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, which is the pope’s cathedral as head of the Rome Diocese. (My friend and colleague Robert Mickens of The Tablet thinks that would be a great idea.)

Popes lived at the Lateran Palace for about 1,000 years before moving to the Vatican in the 15th century, and officially it remains the residence of the bishop of Rome. Since Francis has referred to himself as “bishop of Rome” far more often than he’s used the word “pope,” some believe he may make the move.

The Lateran apartment was refurbished more than 50 years ago for Pope John XXIII, who wanted to use it as a retreat house but never got the chance.

In my view, the important thing is not so much where the pope lives as how accessible he is to people outside the Roman Curia buffer. Popes – even popes who loved being among the people – tend to become isolated behind several layers of “protection” inside the Vatican. There’s the papal household that protects his privacy, assistants who oversee his schedule, security staff and top Vatican officials who guide his energies toward events that tend to focus on the clerical hierarchy and secular VIPs.

A pope who wants to be close to the people really has to make an effort to break through the Vatican bubble. Pope John Paul II did so by inviting people – yes, even lay people – to lunch. Pope Benedict XVI, a more private person, made fewer connections.

As an archbishop, Francis rode the bus and quite naturally mingled with people from all walks of life. As pope, he’s going to have to create new channels of communication if he wants to keep that up.

UPDATE: One sign that the new pope is doing just that: yesterday he invited 50 Argentinians to party with him at an impromptu celebration in the Domus. That’s what I’m talking about.

Pope Francis will celebrate Holy Thursday Mass at youth prison

Another big surprise from Pope Francis this morning: he’ll celebrate the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord’s Supper at a Rome prison for minors, and presumably will wash the feet of 12 young inmates during the liturgy.

Traditionally, popes have celebrated this Mass, which commemorates the Last Supper, at the Basilica of St. John Lateran or St. Peter’s Basilica. As a cardinal in Buenos Aires, Pope Francis would typically celebrate the liturgy in prisons, hospitals or homes for the poor.

The pope will go to the “Castel del Marmo” Penal Institute for Minors on the outskirts of Rome for the evening Mass, where young men and women under the age of 21 are serving time.

The institute trains young inmates for employment in such areas as carpentry, tailoring and cooking, as well as a variety of artistic and technical sectors.

A traveling pope?

Like his recent predecessors, Pope Francis will be a traveling pope.

It remains to be seen what style he’ll adopt in these journeys. The joke going around the Vatican press office is that the pope – and reporters – may be flying easyJet from now on.

The Brazilian president said today the pope told her he would come to Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day in July and then visit Aparecida, site of Brazil’s biggest Marian shrine. The Vatican did not immediately confirm her report.

If the pope does travel to Brazil, no one would be surprised if he adds a stop or two in his native Argentina.

But given Pope Francis’ expressed wish to help create “a church that is poor,” some are wondering whether the costs of such visits may lead to changes in the way they’re carried out.

This is a pope, after all, who on the night of his election called home to Argentina to suggest that pilgrims there skip the trip to Rome for his inauguration, and make a gift to charity instead.

Papal trips involve significant expenses for travel, organization and construction of altar sites and other structures, as well as spending for security by the host country. To give just one example, hosting Pope Benedict at his two stops in the United States in 2008 was estimated to have cost at least $12 million.

One can imagine Francis looking at the plans and budget items for such trips, and thinking about how much money could be saved.

Whether he could actually find a cheaper way to travel is a good question. Typically, popes fly Alitalia charter planes, and about 50 reporters tag along in coach class.

Alitalia likes to put on a good show, and this can lead to incongruous moments. As I wrote in my book, on papal flights to Africa the airline always seemed to serve the caviar and Champagne just as we were overflying Chad, one of the poorest countries on earth.

I suppose a pope could fly commercial aircraft, and make sure the venues for papal events are kept as simple as possible. But there aren’t too many other cost-cutting measures one can imagine on such voyages.

What seems certain is that traveling is now part of the modern pope’s job description. Pope Benedict was a reluctant traveler, but he ended up making 25 trips outside Italy, nine of them outside of Europe.

Pope has a special interest in this event

Vatican officials expect Pope Francis’s trip to Brazil to ignite great enthusiasm among Latin American Catholics. For one thing, of course, this is the first Latin American pope, and the whole continent will give him a homecoming welcome.

Another reason is that World Youth Day is usually a showcase for Catholic energy, and there’s every expectation that young people are going to love this pope with the populist touch.

The pope has his own special interest in this event, according to the Brazilian president, Dilma Rousseff. After her private meeting this morning with Pope Francis, she told reporters that he wants to highlight in Brazil the church’s commitment to the poor, and the need to protect the most fragile sectors of society.

She said the two leaders discussed young people and their problems, including drug problems like crack cocaine. Use of crack has reached epidemic proportions in Brazil, with an estimated 1 million users today, experts say.

“For him it’s very clear that the youth are crucial for building the future of humanity. He hopes there will be a massive participation at World Youth Day. He’s very enthusiastic about it,” Rousseff said.

All this may make the World Youth Day trip a unique opportunity – and worth the cost – in the eyes of the new pope. Yesterday after his inaugural Mass, almost every government delegation extended an invitation to the pope to visit. We’ll see if other dates and places are added to his 2013 calendar.

Istanbul and Jerusalem

During his encounter with Pope Francis today, the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople invited the pontiff to visit Istanbul on the feast of St. Andrew (Nov. 30), either in 2013 or 2014. The two leaders also discussed the possibility of a joint visit to Jerusalem next year, to mark the 50th anniversary of the historic meeting there between Pope Paul VI and Athenagoras I, the ecumenical patriarch of the time.