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Homeless invited to Vatican for dinner and private tour
The event is part of a series of initiatives aimed to helping the poor
Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. (Photo by Bohumil Petrik/CNA)
Elise Harris for Catholic News Agency, Vatican CityInternationalMarch 25, 2015
In addition to food, umbrellas, sleeping bags, showers and haircuts,
the Vatican is now offering Rome’s homeless the gift of beauty.
On Thursday afternoon, 150 homeless persons will receive a special
ticket for the Vatican Museums given by the office for papal charities.
They will then be divided into three separate groups with a guide,
Vatican Insider reports.
Before heading into the museums, the homeless guests will also
receive a tour of Vatican City State, where they will pass by the pope’s
residence in the St Martha guesthouse.
After making a first stop at the Carriage Pavilion, the groups will
go on to the Upper Galleries — including the Gallery of the Candelabra
and the Gallery of Maps — before visiting the apartment of Pius V and
finally the Sistine Chapel itself.
The chapel will be closed to the public during the day in order to prepare for
their guests that evening.
The homeless will have the opportunity to see and take in
Michelangelo’s famous frescoes before pausing for a moment of prayer
inside the chapel, which is traditionally where new popes are elected.
Guests will then head to the Vatican Museums’ restaurant, where they will be
offered dinner.
In addition to having custodians help them carry their personal
belongings – including backpacks, knapsacks, carts and even dogs – the
homeless persons will also be offered headphones to use throughout their
guided tour.
An initiative of papal almoner Archbishop Konrad Kraiewski, the visit
is designed to show the city’s homeless population not just the beauty
from outside the colonnades of St. Peter’s Basilica, but also the beauty
within, which belongs to everyone, including those who have met
misfortune and are living in poverty.
The initiative is the latest in a string of charitable initiatives
enacted by the almoner on behalf of Pope Francis since his election two
years ago.
In November of last year, Archbishop Kraiewski met a homeless man
who said that although a sandwich was easy to find in Rome, a way to
keep clean was not. As a result, the archbishop had the public bathrooms
in St Peter’s Square remodeled to include showers and clean
underclothes for those in need.
Completed in February of this year, the bathroom initiative rolled
out alongside a haircut service for the homeless, who receive the free
services on Mondays — when many other barbershops are closed — at the
hands of volunteer stylists.
A string of other charitable events include the December distribution
of sleeping bags for the homeless coinciding with the pope’s birthday,
as well as the handing-out of 300 umbrellas to those living on the
streets during Rome’s rainy month of February.
Pope Francis on Sunday commissioned 400 of Rome’s homeless residents
to assist him in distributing a pocket-sized book of the Gospels to
faithful who had gathered for his weekly Angelus prayer, saying to
receive the Word of God from their hands was a reminder that it is the
poor who preach the Gospel to us.
In addition to offering lunch to the homeless who helped in the
square on Sunday, the pope’s almoner also helped to deliver 1,000 pounds
of food to the poor in Rome’s Tor Bella Monaca neighborhood with the
help of the Institute of Medicine Solidarity Onlus.
Used with the permission of Catholic News Service.
Original story: Vatican invites 150 homeless for dinner, private tour of
Sistine Chapel
Source: Catholic News Agency
