From Sassari to Rome to meet Pope Leo for the 9th World Day of the Poor. Twenty-four homeless people had the opportunity to meet the Holy Father last Sunday, thanks to Caritas Turritana, which is hosting them in its hostel and shelters in Sassari.
"We decided to undertake this experience," explains Antonello Spanu, director of Caritas Sassari, "to strengthen relationships and provide another opportunity to meet, beyond the one related to food distribution."
The six operators, together with the 24, reached St. Peter's and attended the homily of Pope Leo XIV.
«I urge everyone to listen to the cry of the poorest! - these are some of the Pope's considerations - There can be no peace without justice and the poor remind us of this in many ways, with their migration as well as with their cry, so often suffocated by the myth of well-being and progress, which does not take everyone into account, indeed forgets many creatures, leaving them to their fate».
Approximately 1,500 poor people then gathered at 98 tables in one of the Vatican's rooms for lunch with the Pope himself. "He made us feel at home," Spanu recalls. "He is like the father of a single family, and this warms the hearts of the poor but also of us workers. It's something that nourishes us deeply and gives us hope."
The participants felt as if walls were being torn down, people were meeting, regardless of their life experiences. At the end of the meal, the Pope gave several gifts to those present and asked them to clear away any remaining fruit and food. But above all, according to the participants, what remained was the emotion of an intense experience. "I will cherish it forever in my heart," commented one of the homeless men.