VIDEO: Pope's 'Mercy Friday' Visit to L'Arche Center in Rome
Pope Francis’ much loved human touch was on display on Friday when he made a surprise visit to a community in Italy which houses and cares for persons who have severe mental disabilities.
CNA provided the above video of the visit which was part of the Pope’s “Mercy Friday” initiative, in which he carries out one act of mercy a month on a Friday throughout the Jubilee of Mercy.
The Holy Father sat at table and ate with the volunteers and the disabled, and listened to their testimonies.
The Il Chicco center, located in Ciampino, a town just outside of Rome, was founded in 1981 by L'Arche, a federation dedicated to making known the gifts of persons with intellectual disabilities. It houses 18 persons with disabilities.
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Edward Pentin Edward Pentin is the Register’s Senior Contributor and EWTN News Vatican Analyst. He began reporting on the Pope and the Vatican with Vatican Radio before moving on to become the Rome correspondent for EWTN's National Catholic Register. He has also reported on the Holy See and the Catholic Church for a number of other publications including Newsweek, Newsmax, Zenit, The Catholic Herald, and The Holy Land Review, a Franciscan publication specializing in the Church and the Middle East. Edward is the author of The Next Pope: The Leading Cardinal Candidates (Sophia Institute Press, 2020) and The Rigging of a Vatican Synod? An Investigation into Alleged Manipulation at the Extraordinary Synod on the Family (Ignatius Press, 2015). Follow him on Twitter at @edwardpentin.
