The papal almoner, His Eminence Cardinal Konrad Krajewski will inaugurate today in Genoa, Italy, Pope Francis’ laundry room and showers, a service offered free of charge to the poorest, especially to those with no fixed abode. From today, on the premises of Piazza Durazzo 12, managed by the Sant’Egidio Community in Liguria, they will be able to wash, dry and iron their clothes and blankets, and to take a shower.
The initiative comes from the Holy Father’s invitation to make tangible the experience of the grace of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, which the Almoner of His Holiness and the Sant’Egidio Community have translated into an activity that restores dignity to a group of underprivileged people.
In the premises used for this service, detergents and softeners such as Dash and Lenor, and personal detergents such as Pantene and Head & Shoulders, will be provided, as well as washing machines, dryers and irons, donated by the multinational companies Procter & Gamble and the Whirlpool Corporation, which in 2017 contributed to the inauguration of “Pope Francis’ Laundry” in Rome.
This project is promoted and coordinated by the industrial group Procter & Gamble Italia, which since 2015 has donated Gillette razors and shaving foam and other products to the barbershop for the poor located under the Colonnade of Saint Peter’s.
