It’s a summer ‘staycation’ for Pope Francis, writes Cindy Wooden
Returning to the Vatican in the midst of a heat wave after an eight-day, three-country trip to South America, Pope Francis took the kind of vacation he said he prefers: what has become known as a ‘staycation’.
With the exception of a July 21 meeting with a group of mayors from around the world and the Sunday recitation of the Angelus, Pope Francis’ schedule was cleared of meetings, audiences and public appearances from July 13 to August 4.
August is the heart of vacation time in Italy and at the Vatican, so the Pope’s schedule will continue to be lighter than normal, but he will resume holding his weekly general audiences on August 5. In the meantime, he is “serene and happy”, according to Msgr Guillermo Karcher, an Argentine priest and close aide to Pope Francis. “Every morning I see him and he’s content,” the prelate told Vatican Radio in an interview.
The Pope spends much of the day with “his hands occupied, full of papers and correspondence,” he said. Personally responding to letters, especially from friends and acquaintances, is something Pope Francis did as Archbishop of Buenos Aires and does as much a possible as Pope, he said.
“Then there are the documents and projects for events in the immediate future,” Msgr Karcher said, including for Pope Francis’ September 19-27 visit to Cuba and the US. The Pope had told reporters travelling with him to Ecuador, Bolivia and Paraguay in early July, that “studying” for the September trip was on the top of his staycation to-do list.
Msgr Karcher said, “this is a beautiful year” because Pope Francis’ travels will “embrace” all the Americas – from South America in July to Cuba and the US in the north in September.
“It is really important, especially because it can shape and make concrete and visible that which was a very diplomatic and very pastoral effort” of encouraging Cuba and the US to take the steps necessary toward normal relations, he said. The presidents of both nations credited Pope Francis and the Vatican with helping them with the negotiations.
“I think this makes this trip much more interesting; in addition to being a pastoral visit, it is almost a visit thanking the two nations for extending a hand to each other,” the monsignor said.
While Msgr Karcher said the Pope’s lighter schedule has given him time to catch up on correspondence and paperwork, he also confirmed that Pope Francis does miss his regular interaction with groups.
Vatican Radio also asked Msgr Karcher, as an Argentinian, about mate, the herbal tea that he, Pope Francis and millions of people in Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, Brazil and Chile drink regularly.
The tea, often made in gourds and sipped through a metal straw, is made from the dried leaves of the yerba mate shrub, which is a member of the holly family. It does contain caffeine and Pope Francis told reporters traveling to South America with him that he found it helpful for dealing with the rigors of travel and with the altitude.
Msgr Karcher told Vatican Radio it also “helps lower cholesterol and for those of us who eat a lot of meat, it’s very healthy”.
In Argentina, he said, drinking mate is a social event – sharing the same cup or at least sharing a mate break. People start drinking it as children – usually lukewarm and with milk.
Also, he pointed out, the drink is associated with the Jesuits, who promoted its use among the indigenous peoples, including as a way to combat alcoholism.
Jesuit missionaries to South America in the mid-17th Century domesticated the yerba mate plant and began farming and selling it, expanding its use throughout the region.
Pope’s schedule for Jubilee of Mercy announced
Twelve prominent events, each with the participation of Pope Francis, have been scheduled in Rome for the upcoming Jubilee of Mercy. The major events of the Jubilee of Mercy will be:
- ‘24 hours for the Lord’, a day-long period of Eucharistic adoration;
- ‘To Dry the Tears’, a prayer vigil;
- and jubilees centred on pilgrimage workers; the sick and disabled; catechists; deacons; teenagers; priests; volunteers of mercy; the Curia; Mary; and Divine Mercy spirituality.
In addition to these events, a ‘Jubilee for Padre Pio’s prayer group’ will take place on Februray 13, 2016, as the body of the Capuchin saint will be in St Peter’s Basilica for veneration between February 8-14, at Pope Francis’ request.
The jubilee for pilgrimage workers will take place from January 19-21, 2016. It will start with an international gathering of pilgrimage workers together with priests, rectors and staff of shrines.
On the feast of the Chair of St Peter, February 22, the Pope will also celebrate a special jubilee for the Roman Curia, the Vatican Governatorate, and the institutions linked to the Holy See.
On April 1-3 2016, during the Easter Octave, the jubilee of Divine Mercy spirituality will be celebrated. On April 1, some Roman parishes will celebrate a penitential rite, and the following day Pope Francis will lead a prayer vigil in St Peter’s Square. He will say Mass for Divine Mercy Sunday on April 3.
The teenagers’ jubilee will begin with an April 23 evening festival at Rome’s Olympic Stadium, followed by a Mass said by Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square the following day.
Spiritual retreat
Priests will celebrate their jubilee June 1-3. The first day will be dedicated to Eucharistic Adoration, lectio divina, and confessions. The Pontiff will preach their spiritual retreat June 2, and June 3 will say Mass with them.
The jubilee of the sick and disabled will occur June 10-12. The participants will gather in the jubilee churches, and from there they will go to the Holy Door. A celebration will be held in the gardens of Castel Sant’Angelo June 11, and a Mass in St. Peter’s Square with Pope Francis on June 12.
Added to these particular jubilees are two additional events: the 24 hours for the Lord, culminating March 4 with a penitential rite, and the “Vigil to Dry Tears,” scheduled May 5 and described as a vigil for all those who need consolation.
Pope Francis will preside over both the vigils.
The jubilee will open on December 8 – the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception – and will close on November 20, 2016, the Solemnity of Christ the King.