"Pope Francis Laundromats" for the homeless open in Italy
By Vatican News
Places designed to offer cleanliness and hygiene, but first and foremost dignity.
They were inspired by the Pope and his tireless advocacy for those suffer misery in all its forms.
The two ‘Pope Francis Laundromats’, also equipped with showers, opened today, November 2, in Turin.
One was set up inside the Parish of San Giorgio Martire, and the other in the town centre, in the 'House of Friendship' at the 'La Sosta' centre.
Their inauguration, which took place in the early afternoon, was preceded by a Mass presided over by the Papal Almoner Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, attended by about 200 people, mostly homeless.
Support from businesses
The initiative, which has the support of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, was launched by the company Procter & Gamble and realised thanks to the involvement of the local Sant’Egidio community, which will run both laundries. Haier Europe also collaborated.
Several leading companies in the hygiene sector will provide products, which will enable the poor and homeless to shower, as well as wash and dry clothes and blankets.
Creative solidarity
The 'Pope Francis Laundromats’ in Turin join those opened in Rome in 2017 and in Genoa in 2019, following the 2015 inauguration of a barber shop for the poor at St Peter's Colonnade, requested by Francis.
The project, a statement read, responds to the invitation contained in the 2016 apostolic letter Misericordia et misera, which speaks among other things of the "imagination of mercy", capable of "giving life to many new works, fruit of grace".
"When we help the poorest and most vulnerable," Cardinal Krajewski observes, "we are truly Christians, because we are the means of the Gospel", and "this initiative is a source of joy for me, because it is a further opportunity to be close to wounded humanity, a way of manifesting God's presence and closeness to the least".
Sant'Egidio: an embrace from Francis
"The scent of clean laundry is the scent of home, the scent of family, and it is a note of affection and warmth that we all need," says Daniela Sironi, president of Sant'Egidio in Piedmont.
The opening of the two laundries and showers, she adds, "will be like the Pope's embrace, coming at a time of great difficulty".
Procter & Gamble, which is committed to developing a corporate citizenship programme, also emphasises the hope that these two activities can help many people in difficulty to “improve their living conditions”, as part of an action aimed at producing “positive and concrete changes for people and the environment” so that “no one is left behind”.
This vision is shared by Haier Europe, which, the press release states, works according to a corporate philosophy called 'Zero Distance', which aims to go beyond the consumer concept to help protect people's basic rights and needs.
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