On Sunday, April 28, Pope Francis visited the city of Venice. Many members of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul were present in St. Mark’s Square, among them the President of the Central Council of Venice, Martina Siebezzi, member Marzia Ratti, who participated as a reader, and member Anna Gigoli, who as a volunteer is involved in numerous projects in the prison.

Pope Francis’ trip to Venice began precisely from the prison, when he spent an hour with the inmates. “The Pope – writes Alvise Sperandio in Vatican News – wanted to begin precisely with a gesture of welcome in the women’s prison, where he encouraged the inmates to hope, to rebuild their lives. It was a message surrounded by a series of speeches, also unscheduled, in which some of the inmates told things that came from their history and their hearts. There were also small tributes, works carried out with the collaboration of the cooperatives. The Pope wanted to walk through the rows and greet the inmates one by one, looking into their eyes, which is also the theme of the exhibition of the Vatican Pavilion at the Biennale. The second moment in the prison was the dialogue with the artists, with whom the Pope recalled the value of art, which should not become a market. Art is worth more.

At the meeting with the young people, the pope also gave a speech in which he reminded the young people that they are not a social profile, but are children of heaven, children of God. Afterwards, the pope crossed the bridge of boats and arrived at St. Mark’s: in his homily, Francis said many things about Venice, its fragility as a city of water and its potential; and he called Venice ‘land that makes brothers’.”

Source: https://www.sanvincenzoitalia.it/