Pope Leo to Escape Rome’s Summer Heat with July Stay at Castel Gandolfo

Pope Leo XIV meets the members of the Rome's local church in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP)
Pope Leo XIV meets the members of the Rome's local church in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP)
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Pope Leo to Escape Rome’s Summer Heat with July Stay at Castel Gandolfo

Pope Leo XIV meets the members of the Rome's local church in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP)
Pope Leo XIV meets the members of the Rome's local church in the Paul VI hall at the Vatican, Thursday, June 12, 2025. (AP)

As temperatures in Rome swelter this month, reaching more than 35 degrees Celsius (95°F) under the hot Mediterranean sun, Pope Leo has decided to leave town.

The pontiff will spend July 6 to 20 about an hour's drive south in Castel Gandolfo, a small hamlet on Lake Albano, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

Leo, elected pope on May 8 to replace the late Pope Francis, will also return to the lakeshore for at least one weekend in August, it said.

All of Leo's public and private audiences have been suspended from July 2 through July 23, the Vatican said, as was usual under Francis, to allow the pontiff a period of rest. They will restart on July 30.

By going to Castel Gandolfo, Leo is restarting a summer tradition that was broken by Francis.

Dozens of popes over centuries have spent the summer months at Lake Albano, where temperatures are usually about ten degrees cooler than Rome, but Francis preferred to stay in his air-conditioned Vatican residence.

The Vatican has owned a papal palace and surrounding grounds in Castel Gandolfo since 1596. Spanning 55 hectares, the property includes official apartments, elaborate Renaissance-style gardens, a forest and a working dairy farm.

Francis, who shunned most of the trappings of the papacy, had the official papal palace turned into a museum.

Vatican spokesperson Matteo Bruni told Reuters the pope would not stay at the palace, which will remain a museum, and will instead stay on another Vatican property.

Leo will return to Castel Gandolfo for the weekend of August 15 to 17.



Faint Glow in Saturn… Did a Mystery Object Crash into the Gas Giant on Saturday?

New image captured by a NASA employee and amateur astronomer appears to show a space object crashing into Saturn for the first time. Photo: NASA
New image captured by a NASA employee and amateur astronomer appears to show a space object crashing into Saturn for the first time. Photo: NASA
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Faint Glow in Saturn… Did a Mystery Object Crash into the Gas Giant on Saturday?

New image captured by a NASA employee and amateur astronomer appears to show a space object crashing into Saturn for the first time. Photo: NASA
New image captured by a NASA employee and amateur astronomer appears to show a space object crashing into Saturn for the first time. Photo: NASA

Astronomers have called for help to identify a mystery object that may have hit Saturn on Saturday in what could be the first recorded instance of a space object crashing on to the gas giant.

Studies suggest large objects- measuring over a kilometer across – strike Saturn once every 3,125 years on an average, according to The Independent.

Although data shows seven or eight small space rocks hit the planet every year, none have been spotted in the act by astronomers so far.

Compared to rocky planets where cosmic collisions leave impact craters, gas giants like Jupiter and Saturn don’t reveal such signs.

But a new image captured by a Nasa employee and amateur astronomer Mario Rana appears to show a space object crashing into Saturn for the first time.

Since gas giants have outer layers made of hydrogen and helium, strikes by asteroids or comets can quickly fade out.

Rana is part of the DeTeCt project, which analyzes images of Jupiter and Saturn using computer software. Videos taken of Saturn by the astronomer last Saturday show a faint glow in the left side of the footage, which seems like an impact event.

The Planetary Virtual Observatory and Laboratory, or PVOL, a consortium of professional and amateur astronomers, has called for experts in the field to attempt to confirm or refute the potential impact on Saturn.

“Marc Delcroix reports a potential impact in Saturn captured in a few frames in a video observation obtained by Mario Rana. The potential impact would be very faint and is unconfirmed,” PVOL said in a statement.

“The very short impact flash occurred on Saturn on 5 July 2025, between 9am and 9.15am UT. It is very important to get other videos of Saturn taken during that time frame.”

PVOL has urged astronomers who may have also captured observations from this time to contact Delcroix and submit their data.

Leigh N Fletcher, a planetary science professor at the University of Leicester, also called for amateur space observers to share any potential videos they may have of the impact.

“Amplifying the call from Marc Delcroix and co over the weekend: the team are looking to verify/refute a potential impact on Saturn on 5 July, 9am to 9.15am UT,” Dr Fletcher wrote on BlueSky.

“Videos taken by amateur observers at that time might hold the key.”