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Alessandro Di Meo / EPA
The Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo, Pope's summer residence, on the outskirts of Rome. Pope Benedict XVI will officially step down on Feb. 28. On the last day of his pontificate, the Pope is due to take a helicopter to Castel Gandolfo where he will stay during the conclave.
Alessandro Di Meo / EPA
Gardens at Castel Gandolfo
By Alastair Jamieson, Staff writer, NBC News
Pope Benedict will leave his residence inside the Vatican and travel by helicopter to his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, about 15 miles south-east of Rome at about 4.55 p.m. local time (10:55 a.m. ET) Thursday. His papacy will officially end at 8 p.m. local time (2 p.m. ET).
After stepping down, the pope will keep his name, His Holiness Benedict XVI, but get a new official title, "Emeritus Pope." The Vatican on Tuesday said he would wear a simple white cassock and swap his traditional red shoes for a pair of brown leather loafers he was given on his trip to Leon in Mexico last year. Continue reading.
Editor's note: These pictures were taken on Feb. 20 and 21.
Gregorio Borgia / AP
A grotto
Alessandro Di Meo / EPA
The Chinese Room
Alessandro Di Meo / EPA
A light switch bears the Papal seal.
Alessandro Di Meo / EPA
Details of a chair inside the Chinese Room
Max Rossi / Reuters
A view of Castel Gandolfo lake is seen from inside the summer residence of Pope Benedict XVI in Castel Gandolfo.
Franco Origlia / Getty Images
The Apostolic Palace and the Pontifical Villas of Castel Gandolfo on Lake Albano will be Pope Benedict XVI's residence during the next Conclave, in Rome, Italy.
When Pope Benedict XVI steps down, he will head to the sleepy town of Castel Gandolfo, used by popes as a quiet sanctuary for 400 years, where he will await the completion of construction on his new home. NBC's Savannah Guthrie reports.
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Gabriel Bouys / AFP - Getty Images
The pope delivers his final audience in St. Peter's Square as he prepares to stand down.
Leave a Comment:
Christ preached poverty. The Church could do a lot of good with the money they could get for that castle. Why do they need all these earthly riches?
Something tells me there is a HUGE story here and it is all about POWER not religion.
The POPE does live in opulence, but in a way it's a golden cage. He can't very well live in a flat or walk-up in New York.
It's not like he will be able to sell the palace - he doesn't actually own the palace. It's afforded him as perks of living in full view of the world for the rest of his life. All the riches have been amassed over centuries by the Church, all of it is passed on to the next living Pope, his family won't benefit from any of it, because it's not his to pass on to his family.
give & take,
Amen and +1. Funny @!$%#.
yup, the;" Greatest Sin is Greed". Hell awaits the hypocrite's as told by the Book/Bible. knowing the truth has set souls free. however, do not delight as they may.....
give & take
A BIG AMEN BROTHER! ....... Lettuce pray .....
A proper answer Give & Take would be "as often as I can Monsignor...as often as I can".
It can't be sold because nobody is rich enough to buy it.
is there atms in the popes kingdom , or anyones kingdom ,hmmmmm
Christ said "I am the way"....that does it for me, no human intercession needed. And I don't pray to his mother.
Such blatant opulence in the face of world poverty is criminal. THIS is why I will never ever return to the catholic church. The Pope wears the supposed shoes of the fisherman yet lives like a Pharaoh. There is no justification for a 'servant' living in this way. People wonder why folks leave the Church? You have only to look towards the Vatican to understand why.....
Too extravagant - men of God should teach humility and should live in the simple ways of Christ. Golden rings, villas and great wealth aren't typical in Protestant churches - the Catholic church has amassed too much wealth while people all over the world are living in filth, suffering from poverty and disease. Something is not right with this picture.
Mahatma Ghandi. A man of peace and humility, a non-Christian.
I like your Christ. I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ.
Mahatma Ghandi
I'm sorry, but I got the same feeling....my goodness gracious....All this in the face of suffering and poverty, This is WAY beyond Opulence, I'm sorry, but this story just reeks of Centuries in Power "unchecked"
He will spend his time in contemplation in the gardens. How nice for him.
Wow!!! God would love to live there. Better than those crummy little churches.
It's good to be pope !
From one palace to another.................No worries for him.
How wonderful are the palatial and lovely quarters of the Vatican and surrounding villas? How disgusting are the scum who live there thinking that they have a place waiting in paradise for them? Sister Theresa has a place in paradise. You high hats however are gonna get a rude awakening when your prada shows catch on fire and you burn in hell for your sins and blasphemies committed in the name of Jesus Christ and the Christian religion. The Vatican is just a collection or worldly things, it is not a credit to your history of Catholicism. What have you people done for humanity besides being TAKERS and ruining people's lives?
Mother Theresa made millions for the Church by encouraging people to have children they couldn't afford, telling them contraception (never mind abortion, just contraception) was a sin and then looking saintly taking in the children whose parents couldn't support them or who had died or abandoned them. If she (and the "princes" of the church) really cared about poverty and suffering they would be on the front lines of teaching people how to plan their families. They are not because it might mean a few less Catholics being born. The poor and suffering and orphans are a real money maker for the church (and not just the Catholic Church) when they drag them out to make the congregation feel guilty - and generous.
They view their vow of poverty much like their vow of chasity: good for everyone else but a pain in the posterior for them (or is it the little boys that get the pain in the posterior?). What's that ole comment about the Catholic church being a lot like K-Mart (little boys pants half off)
Unless they belong to an order (e.g. Franciscan priests and brothers), Catholic priests do NOT take a vow of poverty nor of chastity.
They agree to be celibate (and that mean "not to marry" in the literal sense) and they promise obedience to their local bishop.
This worthless piece of garbage shouldn't be allowed to live amongst civilized human beings; he belongs in a prison cell for his role in protecting pedophiles from prosecution. This so-called "Pope" and the vile pieces of filth called "Cardinals" and "Priests" he is guilty of protecting represent the absolute worst humanity has to offer.
you people all wreak of negativity and can't find the good in what the church has done.
During World War II many thousands of Jews and FLEEING ALLIED PRISIONERS OF WAR were hidden at Castle Can Delfo (Sp?). BY THE POPE AND HIS STAFF!!! I was raised in a Protestant home, going to the Methodist Church. When it came to educating my son (1973) I was glad to have the Catholic School System. NO LIBERAL UNION MINDED TEACHERS, FROM WHOM WE ARE NOW REAPING THEIR WILD MINDED POLITICS!!
Also, I have been grateful to have Catholic hospitals available for my family and I. Since Roe v. Wade, 500,000 people have been executed in this country. NONE IN CATHOLIC HOSPITALS. May God Bless them and the great works they do every day!!
No they just Molest them behind closed doors
Looks pretty dreary to me -- I would not want to live there.
The church has all this while priests molest children around the World and they cover it up. Kind of sounds like Jim and Tammy baker. Give generously this Sunday
He who is without sin throw the first stone !
It's good to see evryone here has all the answers!
WOW!!! What a residence for a Pope! Does he really need all this??? It's just unbelievable because it's quite the opposite of what the church preaches and what the Christ teaches us in the Gospel.
The article's title is wholly misleading. This place is not Benedict's (or Ratzinger's); it belongs to the Vatican. Popes come and go, Castel Gandolfo is the summer residence for whomever happens to be the seating pope.
Said He, I will lift up My contenance on you. It looks like he lifted up his countenance on Him. There is nothing healthy - that I see - about his face.
As far as religion and money http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2109134 is most interesting.