Saturday morning, on the occasion of his 80th birthday, Pope Francis invited some homeless people to have breakfast with him.
According to a statement released by the Holy See press office, eight homeless people, two women and six men, were invited to his residence, Casa Santa Marta. They were accompanied by the Papal Almoner, Konrad Krajewski.
Those present around St. Peter’s were invited in the early morning. They were of different nationalities: four Italians, one Moldovan, two Romanian, and a Peruvian.
At 7:15 a.m., Pope Francis met with them, greeting them affectionately one by one. The homeless presented three bouquets of sunflowers to the Holy Father, who welcomed them for a quick stop in Santa Marta’s Chapel.
Then, the Pope personally invited the guests into the dining room of Santa Marta for breakfast, sitting with them and conversing with each. At 7:45, he had to leave to go to the Pauline Chapel for the celebration of the Mass with the cardinals, but offered the guests Argentine pastries.
Already by Saturday morning, the Press Office stated, via e-mail, almost 50,000 birthday greetings to the Holy Father had arrived from around the world. The most numerous were in English, Spanish and Italian. More than a thousand arrived in Latin.
