Pope invites 2,000 homeless, refugees and prisoners to the circus

By Vatican News staff reporter

Pope Francis, through the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, has invited over 2,000 people to attend a special circus performance on Saturday, 11 February. The show will be performed by the Rony Roller circus company.

According to a statement by the Dicastery (also known as the Apostolic Alms Office), the people invited include refugees, homeless, prisoners, and refugee families with children from Ukraine, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.

There will also be some families living in squattered buildings in Rome, and more than 150 homeless people living in the streets of the Roman suburb of Torvaianica and in various dormitories. They will be accompanied by volunteers, including the Sisters of Charity of Mother Teresa.

“Allowing these people to attend the show is a way of giving a few hours of serenity to those who face hardships and need help to sustain hope”,  the Papal Almoner Cardinal Konrad Krajewski explains in the statement. “As the Pope said when meeting artists, the Circus puts us in touch with the beauty that always cheers us up and makes us go beyond difficulties, it is a way to reach the Lord."

The show also reminds of the countless hours of training and sacrifices behind this art and this beauty: "The artists of the circus confirm to us that persevering can make the impossible possible", Cardinal Krajewski said.