Pope Francis opened the doors of the Vatican to the poor yesterday making them guests of honour at a Mass in St Peter’s Basilica and then hosting them at a gourmet lunch.
Several thousand refugees, unemployed and homeless were invited to mark the Church’s first World Day of the Poor coming mainly from Italy but also other parts of Europe.
“If in the eyes of the world they (the poor) have little value, they are the ones who open to us the way to heaven,” Francis said during his homily at Mass yesterday. “They are our ‘passport to paradise’. For us it is an evangelical duty to care for them.”
The 80-year-old Latin American Pope has made caring for those marginalised a key theme of his pontificate announcing within days of his election that he wants “a poor Church for the poor.”
Yesterday, in the same hall where he made that appeal, Francis welcomed around 1,200 for a special lunch inside the Paul VI where he mingled with guests and posed for photos.
A feast had been devised for guests by Sergio Dussin, a chef who normally prepares meals for dignitaries at the Vatican. On the menu was gnocchi, fish with tomatoes and olives, veal with vegetables, cheese and Venetian-style tiramisu.
Pope Francis arrives to eat lunch with the poor in the Paul VI hall after celebrating Mass marking the first World Day of the Poor at the Vatican ©CNS
During his homily yesterday the Pope cited indifference as the greatest sin when it came to those in need.
“It is when we say, ‘That doesn’t regard me; it’s not my business; it’s society’s problem,’ he explained. “It is when we turn away from a brother or sister in need, when we change channels as soon as a disturbing question comes up, when we grow indignant at evil but do nothing about it.”
He went on: “God will not ask us if we felt righteous indignation, but whether we did some good.”
It is not the first time the Pope has opened up the Vatican in this way. He organised for a group of homeless to be given a private tour of the Sistine Chapel while arranged for a special concert for those with nowhere to call home directed by composer Ennio Morricone. At the concert the homeless were given front row seats while VIPs - including cardinals and bishops - sat behind them.
Pope Francis has lunch with the poor inside the Vatican ©Christopher Lamb on YouTube
PICTURE: Pope Francis eats lunch with the poor in the Paul VI hall after celebrating Mass marking the first World Day of the Poor at the Vatican on 19 November
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