Pope to mark World Day of the Poor, with lunch for 1,500
More than four thousand indigent will attend Mass. They will come from Rome and from Lazio, diocese including Paris, Lyon, Nantes, Warsaw, Krakow, Malines-Brussels and Luxembourg. Among the initiatives, a medical field hospital set up near the Vatican that will carry out free clinical tests, specialist medical examinations in cardiology, dermatology, infectivity, gynaecology and andrology.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) - More than four thousand poverty-stricken and generally destitute people will attend Sunday Mass, November 19, with Pope Francis in St. Peter's Basilica and then take part in a festive luncheon. This is according to the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization which is organizing the celebration of the First World Day for the Poor, wanted by Pope Francis.
The Pope aims for the entire Christian community to feel called upon to reach out to the poor, the weak, to the men and women whose dignity is trampled upon. Some of them have been invited for the occasion to St. Peter’s: from Rome and Lazio, but also from dioceses including Paris, Lyon, Nantes, Warsaw, Krakow, Malines-Brussels and Luxembourg.
Accompanied by volunteers, after the Mass celebrated by the Pope at 10 am, they will attend a luncheon with the Pope in the Paul VI Hall. Entertainment will be provided by the Vatican Gendarmerie Band and the "The Sweet Notes" chorus, composed of children from 5 to 14 years old. The other 2,500 will be welcomed in Rome's canteens, seminaries and colleges (Pontifical North American College, Leonidus Apostolic College, Church of San Pietro canteen, Caritas Roma canteen, Community of Sant'Egidio, Rome’s Pontifical Minor Seminary, Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum ) for a festive lunch.
The poor will be served by 40 Deacons of the Diocese of Rome and about 150 volunteers from the parishes of other dioceses.
Other initiatives include the Solidarity Presidium, active - Monday 13 to Sunday 19 November, from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm - in Piazza Pius XII, next to St. Peter’s Square. The medical field hospital will carry out free clinical tests, specialist medical examinations in cardiology, dermatology, infectivity, gynaecology and andrology.
On Saturday, November 18, at 20:00, in the Basilica of Saint Lawrence outside the Walls, - chosen because of the Saint’s response to the Emperor who asked him for the riches of the Church, when in presenting the poor he said, "These are the true treasure of the Church "- a prayer vigil will be celebrated for the world of volunteering which every day in the silence of their commitment offer relief and joy to many poor people.
In the preparation for the First Wold Day for the Poor, a pastoral pamphlet was created, entitled "We do not love with words but with facts", translated into 6 languages, published in Italy by Pauline press.
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17/11/2019 14:22
09/04/2016 13:08
