In a return to tradition, Pope Leo moves into new home in the Apostolic Palace

Pope Leo XIV moved into his new apartments at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace March 14, the Holy See Press Office announced that afternoon in Rome. Pope Leo’s new quarters include several rooms, among them the private study — where the pope appears at the window to lead the Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square every Sunday — a library and a small chapel. According to Italian media, the apartment also includes a home gym.

With Pope Leo’s return to the Apostolic Palace, his rooms will be different from those of Pope Benedict XVI, the last pope to live in that space. Instead of occupying the traditional papal living quarters, Italian media has reported that Pope Leo will live in a loft, or attic, above the “Third Loggia,” or top floor, of the building. Vatican media has reported that Pope Leo will live with his private secretaries, Msgr. Edgard Rimaycuna and Father Marco Billeri.

Pope Leo’s choice to live in the Apostolic Palace marks a change from his immediate predecessor and a return to more than 100 years of tradition. Pope Francis lived his entire pontificate in a suite in the Vatican guesthouse, formally known as the Domus Sanctae Marthae, preferring to be residing within a larger community.

Pope Leo’s move takes place after months renovation at the Apostolic Palace — and accompanying speculation — during which the Holy Father continued to live at his apartment at the Vatican’s Palazzo del Sant’Uffizio, where he had already been residing while serving as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops.

In 1903, St. Pius X became the first pope to live in the apartments overlooking St. Peter’s Square. The apartments were completely remodeled by Pope Paul VI in 1964 and have undergone smaller modifications by each pope since, according to “Mondo Vaticano,” a Vatican-published mini-encyclopedia about Vatican buildings, offices and tradition.

On May 11, 2025, Pope Leo removed the seals that had been placed on the door of the papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace on April 21, following the death of Pope Francis.

In St. Peter’s Square on the evening of March 14, it was business as usual as tourists milled around taking in the sights — mostly unaware that a major shift in the life of the pope was happening nearby. A group of Romans who learned from OSV News that the pope was moving into the apostolic palace that day were very excited to hear the news.

And though Pope Leo’s bedroom — for reasons of security and privacy — won’t be as public as that of his predecessors, a small light in the palace was visible from the square — an indicator that the space officially is in use once again.

Vatican News, Catholic News Service and Paulina Guzik, OSV News international editor, contributed to this report.

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