Monday, August 15, 2016

Pope Francis Visits Prostitutes on Friday

Francis is visiting women as part of his "Fridays of Mercy" in one of the communities of Pope John XXIII House  in northern Rome.

Vatican City (kath.net/KNA) Pope Francis has made a surprise visit to 20 former prostitutes on Friday afternoon. He visited the women as part of his "Fridays of Mercy» in one of the communities of Pope John XXIII House in the north of Rome, the Vatican announced after the meeting. Founded by the Italian priest Oreste Benzi, the Catholic community is made up mainly of former forced prostitutes protected at their facility.

Francis visited, according to the organizers of the Jubilee of Mercy, more than an hour in the women's shelter where he spoke with residents from Romania, Nigeria, Albania, Tunisia, Italy and Ukraine with an average age of 30 years.

The Vatican described the Pope's visit to the ex-prostitutes as a "call to the conscience, to fight human trafficking." Pope Francis has repeatedly criticized trafficking and forced prostitution repeatedlt and described it as "a crime against humanity".

In the current Holy Year of Mercy, the Pope travels regularly on Fridays to social services without prior public announcement. Among other things, he has already paid visits to a nursing home, young drug addicts and a refugee reception center.

During the World Youth Day in Poland in July, Francis  engaged in silent prayer while visiting the former Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, a visit to a children's hospital in Krakow and at a Way of the Cross with WYD participants for the "Friday of Mercy."


12 comments:

PaxTecum57 said...

I wonder if Francis did not justify sin on this visit, as is his practice. Of course to him the only sinners today are Traditional Roman Catholics who are getting in his way with his Modernism.

Anonymous said...

Has anyone ever noticed that these things happen on Feast Days, especially those of Our Lady?

Not impressed said...

I have no enthusiasm for the current pontificate, but some comments about the Pope are, frankly, ridiculous. There are no grounds whatsoever for saying that the Pope justified sin on this visit, or that he has ever sought to justify prostitution. Yes, there are justifiable concerns about some things that he has said and done. But let's not be silly.

Not impressed said...

Again, let's not go out of our way to find fault where none is due. If you read the item you would have noticed that the visit took place on Friday, not on a Marian feast day or any feast day.

Ivan said...

Friday was the eve of the eve of the Feast Day.

Anonymous said...

Mea culpa. You have excellent eyes.

Anonymous said...

Did anyone else ever notice that this trip, and many of the things Bergoglio says and does, have nothing to do with religion, or the Catholic Faith. Now I rea that the Papal Almoner, Bishop Krajewski, busses a dozen or so Roman homeless people each week for a trip to the beach and dinner, all paid for by Bergoglio.
Very nice, but any social organization can do the same things. They have nothing to do with religion either.
Pope Francis woul have made a better social worker, or a politician, than he does a Pope.
Damian Malliapalli

Nicolas Bellord said...

Not impressed: Absolutely right.

Tancred said...

Feeding the hungry is a corporal work of mercy.

James said...

Because Pope Francis has lost so much credibility among serious Catholics, it's probably a given that we always can always infer problematic naturalism from what he does; and of course, we get to see the "humility on display" for the cameras. Nevertheless, mindful that there are the corporal works of mercy, that charity is the greatest virtue, that a broken clock is right twice a day, and that whatever else Pope Francis is, he is the pope; let's give him the benefit of the doubt here and pray that his visit will have a real impact on the individuals who are being helped and working at that community.

Boniface said...

^^Agreed.

PaxTecum57 said...

Not impressed, It may not be impressive to say the Pope would probably justify sin. But the fact is he has justified many in their sins. This Pope is known to punish the good and reward the wicked. The Pope has made history with doing this, history which cannot be erased so lets not fake blindness.