Pope Francis left the Vatican on Thursday to meet with members of a local Roman parish as part of his new initiative of wonderful papal prayer sessions ahead of next year’s jubilee.
The thirty families who found Francis in the courtyard of a building in the Palmarola neighborhood, on the west end, were surprised, especially since Francis was waiting on the other side of town, in some other parish community, at the same time. .
Francis made the last-minute decision after too many rumors spread that he was making plans to stop at an apartment complex in Casal Bertone, a bourgeois neighborhood on Rome’s eastern fringe. In fact, the city of Rome had set up police barricades to involve supporters, potted plants decorated the site, and media equipment was available, just so the pope wouldn’t show up.
Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni made no mention of the change of mission in a statement released late Thursday accompanied by a photo of the pope with the parish families he actually met. He only said that Francis had gone to the community of Palmarola to meet with 30 families belonging to the parish of Santa Brigida di Svezia for the 3rd circular of their “school of prayer” meetings.
Unlike typical parish visits that involve church communities preparing for months to get a pope, or highly orchestrated trips that require bilateral diplomatic protocols, such prayer meetings are designed to be informal and spontaneous.
After battling poor fitness for much of the winter, Francis, 87, has resumed a busy schedule of meetings outside the Vatican. Recently, he has met with teams of priests and laity in parts of Rome and has recently made day trips to Venice and Verona, with plans for long-term visits to Trieste and the Group of Seven assembly near Bari.
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