- Pope Francis makes a surprise visit to a rehabilitation center in the city of Rome
- The center’s residents wrote a letter to him and jokingly invited him over for a pizza party
- The pope came without his special entourage and brought only one person with him
Pope Francis has visited a drug rehabilitation center in the city of Rome on Friday; surprising its patients who jokingly invited him to come over for a pizza party.
In an article written by Elise Harris for the Catholic News Agency, it was disclosed that the 79-year-old pontiff made an unscheduled stop at the Fr. Mario Picchi Italian Center for Solidarity where 60 people receiving treatment for drug and alcohol addiction were “left without words” when they saw the pope walking towards their front door.
“He met at length with each one of them like a loving father listening to their stories and embracing them one by one,” shared Roberto Mineo; the center’s president.
Mineo also added that Francis seemed to have felt “at home” in the center; with the patients showing photographs of their family members to him.
According to Mineo, the residents of the center have written a letter to the pope a few weeks ago; telling him stories about the activities they are doing while on rehabilitation.
The letter was said to have been received by the Vatican Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who could have informed the pontiff about the content of the message.
To the residents’ surprise, Pope Francis came to the center without prior notice and was unaccompanied by his usual entourage; bringing only one person with him – Archbishop Rino Fisichella; the president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization.
“We never imagined that the Pope, after reading our letter, would have honored us with his presence,” Mineo said; adding that they even joked in their letter about having a pizza party.
In 2015, the pope made a casual statement that if only he had the opportunity to do so, he will walk around Rome unnoticed and enter a pizza parlor to eat some slices of his favorite comfort food.
Watch this related YouTube video from Rome Reports:
Post a Comment