Pope Leo XIV will resume the papal vacation tradition by taking two weeks off at Castel Gandolfo, the hilltop town a dozen or so miles southeast of Rome, which popes for centuries used as their summer retreat.

Leo greeted well-wishers who lined the main road into town to welcome him before waving from the balcony of the villa where he will be staying for what he says will be a “brief period of rest.” “I hope everyone can have some vacation time to restore the body and spirit,

"I would like to express sincere condolences to all the families who have lost loved ones," Pope Leo XIV said Sunday.

Pope Leo XIV appeared at his window Sunday morning, delivering a message about the catastrophic flooding in Texas.

Pope Leo offers condolences to the families of the victims of devastating floods in Texas which have left at least 50 people dead and nearly 30 more missing, many of them children who were attending a summer camp.