The following is a guest blog by Steve Townsend, Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy to the Holy See
In July in Rome, thoughts start to turn to holidays, and escaping the humidity of the Eternal City for the beach or the mountains. Most people think that they have deserved their break, and look forward to the chance to unwind and re-charge their batteries. However, despite their being no General Audiences in July (which is not unusual) Pope Francis is continuing to work during the summer.
Pope Francis has set himself a very heavy workload. Since his election in March 2013, he has made two major foreign trips (to Brazil and to the Holy Land), and will be travelling to Korea in August. He has completed five Italy trips (to Lampedusa, Assisi, Sicily, Calabria and Molise), and this does not include his various visits to parishes within Rome. According to the Holy See, by the end of June he had celebrated 95 major liturgical events and given 73 official homilies and 231 speeches.
He has written one major Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, as well as three Apostolic Letters and five motu propio (documents “by his own impulse” and amending laws or giving instructions). There have been 54 General Audiences, which have attracted about 6 million people – and the Pope spends about two hours after each one greeting pilgrims and the sick, no matter what the weather or temperature.
And all this is apart from the hundreds of letters he receives daily, the meetings with the Advisory Council of Cardinals and the heads of the dicasteries (ministries), the visits by Heads of State and Government and other key figures. He is overseeing a major reform of the administrative and financial structure of the Holy See and pushing forward work on improving the procedures for preventing child abuse.
He celebrates Mass each morning at 7am at the Domus Santa Marta, with a invited congregation of 50 or 60, all of whom he meets afterwards. And the new “Pope App” means that the faithful can follow him 24 hours a day (not counting the 14 million followers he has on Twitter).
This programme would be punishing for a young man, let alone one 77 years old. In fact, just thinking about it makes me want to go and lie down!