VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis visited the homeless in the recently opened shelter he set up near the Vatican on Thursday evening. 

  After the synod ended for the day, the pontiff arrived and spent about 20 minutes with some 30 guests, visibly moved by the conversations. 

    The shelter, which is run by the Office of Papal Charities and can sleep up to 34 men, was opened on October 7. It is possible for people to sleep there for up to thirty days, and enjoy dinner at the nearby "Dono di Maria” house, in the Vatican.