Ten months after his election, Pope Leo XIV has officially moved into the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace, the traditional residence of the pope. Located on the third floor of the Apostolic Palace, the apartment had been left empty for 12 years after Pope Francis chose instead to live at Casa Santa Marta, the Vatican guesthouse within the city walls.
The new pontiff has now taken possession of the residence, moving in together with his closest collaborators. Among them are his two personal secretaries: Monsignor Edgard Iván Rimaycuna Inga, a Peruvian priest who had previously worked with him in the Diocese of Chiclayo, and the Italian canon lawyer Don Marco Billeri, from the Tuscan Diocese of San Miniato.
On May 11, Leo XIV reopened the papal apartment, removing the seals that had been placed on April 21, the day Pope Francis died. Renovation and refurbishment work then began on the residence, which had remained unused throughout Francis’s pontificate.
The renovation lasted nine months. According to reports, the apartment now also includes a small gym for the American-born pope.