Pope Taking a Break

Following the whirlwind of activity leading up to and following his elevation, and in advance of World Youth Day next month, Pope Benedict began a well-deserved summer vacation yesterday:

Pope Benedict left the Vatican mid-morning July 11 to fly from Rome's Ciampino airport to the airport of St. Christophe-Aosta in northern Italy. He then drove to a villa owned by the Salesian Fathers at Les Combes in the Alps.

The only public events on the papal calendar during his vacation were expected to be the Sunday recitation of the Angelus July 17 and July 24 with visitors gathered on the lawn around the villa.

One of his objectives, according to Cardinal McCarrick, is to think through the direction in which to take his papacy, "[The pope] is using the summer to figure things out. He's saying, 'Now that I'm pope, where do I go and what do I focus on?'"