Pope Francis says the Office of Papal Charities, otherwise known as the pope's almoner, will now be headed by a cardinal. The Office oversees help for the poor.

The current Papal Charities chief, Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, will be promoted. His successors will have the same rank.

Francis says this will institutionalise a higher profile for the department.

Explaining his reasons for promoting the almoner, Francis explained his vision of the "two long arms of the pope - that of being custodian of the faith, and there the work is done by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, and the prefect has to be a cardinal.

"And the other long arm of the pope is the almoner, and there must be a cardinal there.

"These are the two long arms of the pope - faith and charity."

Francis's direction has seen Krajewski revitalise the Papal Charities office.

He is often seen on the streets of Rome in simple, non-clerical clothes helping the homeless.

He has set up shower stalls and medical facilities for the homeless, elderly and destitute near St. Peter's Square and taken groups to the circus and on private tours of the Sistine Chapel.

Other reforms Francis discussed include:

• Breaking with the custom of automatically naming cardinals to head major dioceses around the world. Five major Italian cities who have always had cardinals are currently without them.
• Possibly making changes in the group of cardinal advisors from around the world known as the C-9.

Source

• The Express Tribune
• Reuters
• Image: Catholic Herald

Papal almoner Archbishop Konrad Krajewski has asked the office governing the Vatican City State to include showers in an already-approved project to remodel the restrooms.

Three shower stalls will be located in the restrooms a few steps north of Bernini's Colonnade, just behind the Vatican post office.

Towels and soap will be provided.

The joint initiative by Pope Francis and the papal almoner came about after an encounter last month.

Archbishop Krajewski spoke with a homeless man - named Franco - from Sardinia and discovered it was the man's fiftieth birthday.

He invited Franco to a restaurant for dinner, but the man declined, saying a restaurant would not let him in because of his odour.

But Archbishop Krajewski took Franco, who had been on the streets for 10 years, to a Chinese restaurant anyway and heard more of his story.

The Rome diocesan Caritas, the Community of Sant'Egidio and other organisations already offer shower facilities to the homeless in Rome, a homeless woman named Barbara said.

"But there are so many things you have to do. You have to get there at 4 in the morning to sign in. Then only 15 people get in each day," she said.

In addition, she said, because the number of homeless men is so much greater than the number of homeless women, many of the shower facilities are only for men or are open to women only a half day each week.

Archbishop Krajewski is visiting parishes in areas where homeless people gather and is encouraging them to install public showers if they have not already.

His office will help fund the building, he said.

Asked whether the sight of homeless people queuing for showers might put off tourists strolling through the colonnade at St Peter's, the Polish prelate said: "Throughout the history of Rome, the poor have always gathered around churches."

There are an estimated 8000 homeless people in Rome.

Sources

• National Catholic Reporter
• The Telegraph
• Image: The Telegraph

When he was archbishop of Buenos Aires, Pope Francis was known to sneak out at night and break bread with the homeless, sit with them literally on the street and eat with them, as part of his aim to share the plight of the poor and let them know someone cared.

In the Vatican, the pope tapped Archbishop Konrad Krajewski and off-duty guards to make the rounds at Rome's train stations, where charities set up makeshift soup kitchens that feed 400 to 500 people a night.

Krajewski is the Vatican almoner, a position dating to medieval times that Francis has redefined to make it a hands-on extension of his personal charity.

"My job is to be an extension of the pope's arm toward the poor, the needy, those who suffer," Krajewski said. "He cannot go out of the Vatican, so he has chosen a person who goes out to hug the people who suffer," taking the pope's place.

Larger and longer-term charity works are handled by the Vatican's international charity federation. The almoner, Krajewski said, is more a "first-aid" compassion station: quick, small doses of help that don't require bureaucratic hurdles but are nevertheless heartfelt and something of a sacrifice.

Sources

AP/Huffington Post
The Washington Post
The Telegraph
Image: Getty Images/Huffington Post