The homeless of Rome will soon be able to get a free haircut at the Vatican.
Space has been set aside for a barber service within in a facility featuring showers and bathrooms for the homeless.
Construction of the facility in public restrooms on St Peter’s Square began in November.
“Our primary concern is to give people their dignity,” said Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, head of the Office of Papal Charities.
“[A barber] is another service that homeless people do not have easy access to.
“It is not easy for them to enter a normal shop because there may be a fear of customers catching something, like scabies for example.”
The barber service will be open on Mondays, when barber shops in Italy are traditionally closed.
Many Italian barbers and student barbers have volunteered their services.