Rome’s needy bid farewell to pope who lifted them up from misery
It was a busy morning April 25 at the Elemosineria Apostolica, or Apostolic Almonry, behind the Vatican walls.
As Cardinal Konrad Krajewski was rushing to get his morning coffee before entering the general congregation of cardinals at 9 a.m., he gave directions to Rudolf, once a homeless man and for years a “right-hand man” of the cardinal: “Take rosaries from the warehouse on the ground floor and distribute them in Palazzo Migliori,” a palace-turned-shelter for the homeless right next to the Bernini colonnade.
Gifting Pope Francis’ rosaries to the poor happened not only in Palazzo Migliori but also throughout Rome on April 25, Cardinal Krajewski told OSV News. The rosaries will soon be a historical artifact and memorabilia of Francis’ 12-year pontificate. The next pope will be handing out his own, with his coat of arms, to the faithful.