Pope Francis hosted 1,300 guests to the Paul VI Hall to share lunch on the occasion of the World Day of the Poor on 17 November, Sunday.
The meal took place after the Mass that the Pontiff celebrated in St. Peter’s Basilica and was organized by the Dicastery for the Service of Charity and was provided by the Italian Red Cross.
Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the pontifical almoner, explained that celebrating this day means following Jesus and “thinking in the same way as the Gospel indicates, because that is what Christ would have done and, therefore, that is what we will do as well.
This year, Pope Francis chose the theme “The prayer of the poor ascends to God,” and the day was preceded “by numerous initiatives to care for the poor, such as the clinic located under the Bernini colonnade, open every day and which welcomes about 150 homeless people every day,” the Vatican newspaper reported.