The “Pope Francis Laundry” began operating last Wednesday (27), a free laundry service offered by the Vatican to low-income people, homeless people and immigrant workers.
The initiative, which also includes a shower service to provide personal hygiene for those in need, was launched in San Ferdinando, in the province of Reggio Calabria.
The community has less than 5 inhabitants and is home to one of the many ghettos where hundreds of African immigrants live in poverty and degradation, waiting for a residence permit, and often exploited in the harvesting of citrus fruits.
“It is a new and ancient sign. The Holy Father has opened laundries and showers in many places. This is an evangelical gesture to give dignity to people, but also to show others that today there are these places that are difficult to understand and are places of shame for all of us,” the apostolic almoner, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, told ANSA.
The Pope's almoner highlighted that there are places without “electricity, without gas and often without running water”, recalling that there are thousands of people who “are without documents and if they are without documents they work illegally, they cannot open bank accounts, they cannot rent houses”.
“This initiative, which has been repeated over time, is a source of joy for me because it is yet another opportunity to be close to wounded humanity, a way of demonstrating God’s presence and closeness to the least of us,” concluded Krajewski.
In addition to the five showers and the laundry room with four washing machines and four dryers, placed in two containers, the initiative will also provide a service called “Help Desk Presidio”, to help immigrants with their document procedures.
The two tools aim to give concrete form to charity and at the same time intelligence to works of mercy to restore dignity to many people, starting with the poorest.
In addition to Krajewski, the inauguration was attended by Monsignor Francesco Savino, vice-president of the Italian Episcopal Conference (CEI), among other religious figures. The initiative is promoted by the Procter & Gamble Italia group, hosted by Apostolic Charity and carried out thanks to the involvement of Caritas of the Diocese of Oppido Mamertina-Palmi and the collaboration of Haier Europe. (ANSA)
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