The Vatican’s charity office invited around 2,000 poor and marginalized people to a circus performance in Rome on Saturday.
“Making it possible to participate in this performance is a way to give a few hours of contentment to those who are confronted with a hard life and need help to nurture hope,” Pope Francis’ almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, said this week in an announcement about the initiative.
The Vatican said volunteers, including sisters from the Missionaries of Charity, will accompany the circus guests, some of whom are homeless and either living on the streets or in a shelter.
Prisoners, refugees, and families with children from Ukraine, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Sudan were also invited, together with several families living in some of Rome’s illegally occupied apartment buildings.