Vatican says papal trip to Iraq is 'an act of love'
- Mar 3, 2021
Father Júlio Lancellotti’s photo went viral last week as he joined city government workers to tear down devices to keep homeless people from lying down under two bridges in São Paulo, Brazil’s largest city and financial hub.
The chairman of the U.S. bishops’ domestic policy committee welcomed the extension of the federal eviction moratorium and an increase in nutrition assistance to families struggling through the coronavirus pandemic.
Giving some money or a blanket or a sandwich to a homeless person is a good and laudable thing, but a Christian who considers the beggar a brother or sister will do more, said Archbishop Cesare Nosiglia of Turin.
Ailing Pope Francis, who this week is making limited public appearances due to persistent pain, has drawn attention to the plight of homeless people in winter, including a Nigerian man who froze to death near the Vatican.
As the Vatican health service continued vaccinating Vatican residents and employees against COVID-19, it also began offering the vaccine to homeless people who live in Vatican-owned shelters.
The Italian Sant’Egidio community has issued an appeal for hotels and other buildings empty due to a lack of tourists amid the coronavirus pandemic to take in homeless who are at risk in the cold winter temperatures.