Rome's needy bid farewell to pope who lifted them up from misery

ROME (OSV News) -- It was a busy morning April 25 at the Elemosineria Apostolica, or Apostolic Almsgiving Office, 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.

With the death of a pope, most top-level Vatican officials -- including the prefects of dicasteries -- lose their jobs, but Cardinal Krajewski, who since 2022 has been prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, is still a papal almoner -- a job Francis tapped him for in August 2013.

St. John Paul II's 1996 apostolic constitution, "Universi Dominici Gregis," which was revised by Pope Benedict XVI in 2007 and again just before he resigned in 2013, specified that "the almoner of His Holiness will also continue to carry out works of charity in accordance with the criteria employed during the pope's lifetime."

The poor, Cardinal Krajewski confirmed, will also be present on the footsteps of the Basilica of St. Mary Major where Francis will be buried April 26 following the funeral Mass at St. Peter's Basilica.

"Representation of the homeless will be in front of the basilica -- at the very last moment before the pope will be laid to rest. They will be there with flowers," Cardinal Krajewski told OSV News.

The day before the pope's funeral Cardinal Krajewski and the team from Sant'Egidio Community -- an ally in Pope Francis' charity efforts throughout his pontificate -- were trying to distribute as many papal rosaries as possible to the homeless and needy of Rome. The cardinal told OSV News it would be "thousands" of rosaries.

With that gesture Cardinal Krajewski is paying his final tribute to Pope Francis.

"What was extraordinary about Pope Francis was that you could tell him anything," Cardinal Krajewski said.

"He wanted us to tell the truth, even if it was painful. Because truth will always set us free. He then carried this truth with him and discerned, but he wanted to know," Cardinal Krajewski told OSV News April 25, when asked about a Francis characteristic he will remember most. He also said Pope Fracis simply wanted to follow the Gospel message.

"Like in today's Gospel, Jesus invited his disciples to the table, Francis invited everyone to the table, this was his Vatican," he added as he rushed, along with Polish Cardinal Grzegorz Rys, to join the general congregation of cardinals.

As the cardinal walked out the door, Daniele and Giovanni filled the kitchen of his apartment with bags of bread.

"We know, seeing what is happening here on a daily basis, that the Holy Father has spent so much effort on welcoming, on reaching out to the most unfortunate people, the homeless. We only benefited from his lessons to the world," Daniele, who only gave his first name, told OSV News.

Both Daniele and Giovanni are beneficiaries of Pope Francis' dormitory Palazzo Migliori.

For Giovanni, who was making a giant tuna salad in the morning to put onto slices of bread that Daniele was preparing, a question about Pope Francis brought tears to his eyes.

Giovanni is a homeless man from Romania and he helps Cardinal Krajewski in his efforts to feed other people in need.

"My best memory of the pope was at the dinner, when we ate together at the table during the World Day of the Poor, and he asked me some things about my family, how I got here, and I told him about my problems, because I had a job for which they didn't pay me. And then I landed on the street," he told OSV News, wiping his eyes.

"But now I stay at the pope's dormitory in Palazzo Migliori and I also volunteer here, so I'm very happy," he said.

In other places "we're sent off with advice: 'Well, you have to look for a job,' and here I just have things to do."

Remembering his personal meeting with Pope Francis, he said: "The Holy Father told me: 'I pray for you, for your family.' That was the best memory, because how many times in life it happens that you stand in front of a pope!"

"We were on the square on Easter Sunday to see him. And then we heard he died, we couldn't believe this. He was like a family member to us. We were so attached to him!" Giovanni said.

Rudolf, from Slovakia, who has a stable job and stands on his own two feet thanks to the help he got from Pope Francis and his almoner, told OSV News: "He died peacefully, he didn't suffer any more. He said his final goodbye like he wanted to, this is how we will remember him."