VATICAN CITY -- In this Jubilee year, Pope Francis is opening another service for the homeless in his tiny city state, to add to the ones already on offer there will be also be a doctor’s surgery.  The homeless who make their way to the Vatican already have services such as the distribution of food, a barber, showers, a dormitory, a visit to the Sistine and a concert in the Aula Nervi.

 To add to this extensive list will also be a doctor’s surgery, found under Bernini’s colonnade.  “We are grateful to Pope Francis,” said Lucia Ercoli, director of the association Solidarity Medicine, “for wanting to give another concrete sign of mercy to the homeless or distressed in St Peter’s Square.  Our doctors, along with some from FAS and from Policlinico Tor Vergata, have accepted this new challenge with great enthusiasm, to combine in the ideal way the work done in recent years in the suburbs with the heart of Christianity.”

 A 34-bed homeless shelter was opened, just steps away from St Peter’s Basilica, by the pontiff in October.  Maintained by donations from church members and proceeds from Papal parchments sold by Pope Francis’ charity office, the staffing needs are provided by Mother Teresa Sisters of Charity religious order.

 The showers for the homeless can be found in St Peter’s Square, where there were existing public bathrooms, that have been expanded upon and can be found below the lavish papal apartment that Pope Francis declined on his appointment.  The barbers were enlisted to come to St Peter’s Square to perform haircuts and shaves for the down-and-out on Mondays, when their shops are usually closed.

 This announcement comes on the same day as the Pope’s statement that he would never accept dirty money, telling a general audience that if some “benefactor” arrives with “a donation that came from exploitation and blood, and people enslaved in low-paying jobs, I will tell him ‘Take your cheque back and burn it’.”

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