On an evening in the Eternal City, Pope Francis headed to the southeastern part of the city, to the Villa Verde suburb of Rome. By car, he arrived at this parish, where 35 priests were waiting for him. And he took the time to greet them individually from his wheelchair.
-He is the pastor of Santa Maria dell' Ospitalità, Fr. Maximilian, and there are some other priests here.
-We'll greet them one by one.
Recently, the Pope has been making several trips to the Roman suburbs to meet with different priests of his diocese.
Pope Francis spent time listening and answering each of their questions. After an hour, he gave them a blessing before leaving the parish.
Later in the evening, the Pope went to a parish center that welcomes people who are in need, have been evicted or have fled their countries.
The Pope greeted each family. One of them was a father with his two children—refugees from the war in Ukraine.
He arrived together with his wife from Ukraine two months ago.
The last time Pope Francis left the Vatican to visit priests was on Sept. 29, when he was at the parish of Santa Maria della Salute in Primavalle, in the northwest part of Rome.
CA
TR: KG