The Pope eats lunch with thousands of poor people in the Vatican and refers to unity as “transverse poverty.”

According to Roman tradition, the Spanish Saint Lorenzo, born in Huesca in 225, was responsible for distributing the Pope’s alms to the poor. During the persecution of Emperor Valerian in 258 he was arrested and offered freedom if he handed over the “treasures of the church”. Then he stood next to the poor and sick whom he was helping and said: “These are the treasures of the Church.” Pope Francis took the matter seriously and established the “World Day of the Poor” and Leo XIV presided over its ninth edition on Sunday.

First, during the Mass held in the basilica, he, along with hundreds of bishops and priests, addressed about 10,000 pilgrims, most of whom were poor people who came from Italy, France and Spain. “How much poverty oppresses our world!” The Pope lamented as he looked at them. “First, they are materially poor. But there are also many moral and spiritual situations that often affect young people in particular. He continued: “And the drama that passes through them all in a symptomatic way is loneliness. For this reason, he proposed “developing a culture of attention to break the wall of loneliness: paying attention to the other, to each person, where we are, where we live, and already transferring this attitude from the family, to live it concretely in the workplace and study, in communities, in the digital world, everywhere, pushing ourselves to the margins and becoming witnesses of God’s tenderness.”

Afterwards, he asked the rulers to “listen to the cry of the poor” because “there can be no peace without justice.” “The poor remind us of this in many ways, through their migration, but also through their cries, which are often stifled by a myth of well-being and progress that does not take everyone into account, that forgets even the many creatures, leaving them to their own fate.”

Aside from the Mass dedicated to them, the most unusual moment of the “Day of the Poor” is the Pope’s lunch with the needy. This Sunday, they shared a table, a tablecloth, and a menu consisting of vegetable lasagna as a first course, chops with vegetable antipasti as a second course, and for dessert “baba,” an Italian cake soaked in rum. “We gather with great joy at this lunch, on this day dear to my beloved predecessor, Pope Francis. “A big round of applause for Pope Francis!” He told them before they started eating.

The lunch was paid for and served by missionaries from the “Mission Congregation” founded by St. Vincent de Paul just 400 years ago. The meal included performances by a choir of 100 young Naples residents who are participating in social reintegration pathways. In addition, as a souvenir, attendees received a backpack containing food and hygiene products.

During the meeting, the Pope saluted the families that this foundation helped lift out of extreme poverty by helping them obtain a home, thanks to the global campaign of the “Famfine Coalition for the Homeless.” These families came from Brazil, Peru, Syria, Senegal or Ukraine to tell Leon how their lives had changed.

– Condemning attacks on Christians

On the other hand, the Pope denounced, during the Angelus prayer this Sunday, “that Christians in different parts of the world suffer from persecution and discrimination, especially in Bangladesh, Nigeria, Mozambique and Sudan.” He refers to “attacks on communities and places of worship.”

He then spoke about Friday’s terrorist attack against a church clinic in North Kivu in which militiamen from the ISIS-linked Allied Democratic Forces killed about 20 patients and maternity wards and burned the facilities. At the end of July, this same group killed dozens of Christians who were praying in the church. Leo

He asked: “Let us pray that all acts of violence stop and that believers cooperate for the common good.” He also noted “with pain the news of the attacks that continue to strike many Ukrainian cities, including Kiev.” He expressed his regret that “they are causing casualties and injuries, including children, and causing extensive damage to civilian infrastructure, leaving families homeless as the cold advances.” When he added that he confirmed his “closeness to the population being tested, we cannot get used to war and destruction,” the square responded with applause.

In addition, he recalled the 37 victims and 20 survivors of last Wednesday’s accident in which a bus in Peru collided with a small truck. Later, as the United Nations marks this Sunday the International Day of Remembrance for Traffic Victims, the Pope asked that “we remember those who died in traffic accidents, often caused by irresponsible behavior, and that each one examine his conscience regarding this matter.”

Catholics in Italy also celebrate the “Day of Prayer for Victims and Survivors of Violations,” which is why Leon asked that “a culture of respect grow as a guarantee of the protection of the dignity of every person, especially minors and the most vulnerable groups.”