A Church for the Poor
Through the 12 years of his papacy, Pope Francis would never forget the poor. He began by choosing the name of Francis after St. Francis of Assisi, who renounced his wealth and lived a life of poverty.
Through the 12 years of his papacy, Pope Francis would never forget the poor. He began by choosing the name of Francis after St. Francis of Assisi, who renounced his wealth and lived a life of poverty.
When Pope John Paul II named him a cardinal in February 2001, Archbishop Bergoglio asked the faithful not to travel to Rome but instead donate what they would have spent on travel to the poor. As cardinal of Buenos Aires, he was known for his humble lifestyle. He lived in a simple apartment rather than the archbishop’s residence and took public transportation.
He continued to choose simplicity when he became pope. Many remember the pope's first official car: a well-used blue Ford Focus. Instead of the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis chose to live in a suite in the Vatican guesthouse. And during his 2015 visit to the United States, he opted for a relatively simple Fiat 500.
In April 2017, Pope Francis opened a free laundromat for the poor and homeless in Rome. Operated under the Office of Papal Charities, the facility offers a barber, showers, free clothing and medicine. In November 2019, he invited 1,500 poor and needy people to lunch at the Vatican.
In his first apostolic exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, he wrote, “We have to state, without mincing words, that there is an inseparable bond between our faith and the poor. May we never abandon them.” (48)
During Holy Week the year he became pope, Francis broke with the papal tradition of washing the feet of 12 priests on Holy Thursday. Instead, he washed the feet of two young women and 10 boys, including two Muslims, at a juvenile detention center in Rome. In subsequent years, he washed the feet of people with disabilities, refugees and inmates from a maximum-security prison.
He established the first World Day for the Poor on Nov. 19, 2017, with the theme “Let us love, not with words but with deeds.” Pope Francis celebrated a special Mass at St. Peter’s on that day, followed by lunch at the Vatican audience hall.
