While vacationing at Castel Gandolfo, the Pontiff took a private trip to the historic Monte Cassino abbey to pray for world peace.
In the middle of his summer vacation, Pope Leo XIV made a private visit to the Abbey of Monte Cassino on Monday, July 20, 2026. According to a telegram from the Holy See Press Office, he spent the morning at the Italian monastery and prayed at the tomb of St. Benedict of Nursia, the founder of the Benedictine order.
The Holy Father is staying at the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo from July 5 to 27. Located about an hour and a half away from the pope’s summer residence, Monte Cassino is the oldest abbey in Italy. In 1944, Allied troops bombed it to rubble in 1944, in the belief that Nazi troops were occupying it. The building was completely rebuilt after its destruction and much of the property is now open to tourists.
