After months of renovation, Pope Francis is hailing the launch of a project that he has long dreamed of in Rome: a 24-hour church and shelter for the homeless.
Opened on December 9th, the church is designed to be a place where the homeless can wash their clothes, connect to the internet, escape the cold, or relax and have a rest, as well as a place to receive food, water, clothes, blankets, and spiritual and psychological comfort.
“Churches with closed doors should be called museums,” wrote Pope Francis in a letter detailing the church’s mission to Padre Ángel García, the founder of the Catholic NGO Mensajeros de la Paz (“Messengers of the Peace”). “I wish that the doors to the House of God are always open because it walks among the peoples, in the history of men and women.”
The newly-renovated sanctuary, which has been dubbed the Church of the Santissime Stimmate di San Francesco, or “Holy Stigmata of St. Francis”, was built by Garcia and the nonprofit in Rome’s historic Pigna district.
Always Open
In his letter to Padre Ángel, Pope Francis praised the project as a common home to build together, and that a 24/7-church and shelter represented “an oasis of peace of the love of God, a place of welcome, reconciliation and forgiveness”.
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The Mensajeros de la Paz foundation has been constructing these church/shelters since 2015 when they finished their first project in Madrid. The Church of San Anton was the first of what Father Garcia saw as his dream: a temple whose doors never closed.
San Anton also brought technological modernization to their 24 hour services, offering free WiFi, power outlets, television screens playing papal related news, and even confessions by iPad for the hard of hearing.
Being the patron saint of animals, the Church of San Anton is pet-friendly, and has a dog fountain outside. Inside, they offer free coffee to visitors.
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Padre Garcia operates several of these churches, not just in Madrid and Rome, but also in Barcelona, Mexico City, and Amman, Jordan—but it is the Stigmata St. Francis which is closest to the Pope’s heart.
“Pope Francis always says that he would like to have a poor Church for the poor. This project is just that. We count on his blessing,” the founder of Mensajeros celebrated.
(WATCH the news coverage below) – Photo by Vatican News
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