Pope Francis and members of the Roman Curia left the Vatican on Sunday for a spiritual retreat in the town of Arricia, Italy.
It is the first time in decades that the Pope's Lenten retreat is being held outside the Vatican.
As the one-year anniversary of his papacy draws near, it is just one more example of how Pope Francis is changing age-old conventions.
The complex is located 25 kilometers outside the city-state in the forest of the hills overlooking Lake Albano.
He is staying in a simply furnished room, exactly the same as the other attendees.
The week-long retreat will include daily meditations.
Francis, the first Jesuit pope, is carrying on a tradition of his religious order to hold spiritual retreat away from people's usual place of work in order to inspire detachment and contemplation.
