Pope Francis meets seven ex-prostitutes from Nigeria
The Argentine, who has repeatedly
described the human trafficking behind much prostitution as “a crime
against humanity”, sat down with the group, including four women from
Albania, seven from Nigeria and six from Romania.
Pope Francis surprised 20 former prostitutes on Friday by knocking on their door in Rome and popping in for a chat.
The other three hailed from Italy,
Tunisia and the Ukraine, according to a Vatican statement. The women,
all aged around 30, are being sheltered by a Catholic association in an
apartment in the Italian capital after being rescued from their pimps.
The 79-year old listened for over an
hour to the stories of the former sex slaves, “all of whom suffered
serious physical abuse and live under protection,” the Vatican said.The visit fell under what have been
termed Francis’s “Fridays of Mercy”, whereby he carries out one
unscheduled act of mercy a month on a Friday — mainly in or near Rome —
throughout the pope’s Jubilee year, which started in December and runs
to November.
In January, he visited a care home for
the elderly and people in a vegetative state, while in February he went
to a community for drug addicts. In March he toured a refugee centre
before visiting asylum seekers on the Greek island of Lesbos in April.
The pontiff then spent time with the
seriously mentally ill in May before visiting old and ill priests in
June and dedicating his July “Friday of Mercy” to sick children in
Krakow after praying for the victims of the Holocaust at the
Auschwitz-Birkenau Nazi death camp.
Source: Punchng.com
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