Pope donates two Caritas houses to the poor and elderly in Poland

Pope donates two Caritas houses to the poor and elderly in Poland

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis will be leaving a powerful legacy of faith and hope in the people of Poland and in the millions of young people gathered in Krakow for World Youth Day.

Apart from his prayers, his encouragement and his closeness, his words of hope and his tears of sorrow, he will also be leaving two houses for the poor and the elderly in need.

Through the work and intervention of Caritas Poland and Caritas Internationalis, headed by Cardinal Luis Tagle, two solid Centers made of bricks and cement are a concrete witness of solidarity for the poor on the part of the Pope who is scheduled to bless them on Sunday morning before their inauguration.

Lydia O’Kane caught up with Cardinal Tagle in Krakow and asked him to tell her about the two houses, one for the poor and the other for the elderly…

Cardinal Luis Tagle says that a gesture such this is a mark of papal visits such as when he went to the Philippines last year when – aside from the gift of his presence – he also gave a gift that would stay and that would benefit the poor.

“That is the same thing that is happening here, especially because this World Youth Day is very much tied to the Year of Mercy” he said.

He points out that the theme of WYD is ‘Be merciful as the Father is merciful’ and so “aside from the festivities and the joy that the coming together of young people always generates, there is also here a very great manifestation of love and mercy”.

So, Tagle explains, the Holy Father, in the name of the youth is giving the gift of two Caritas Centers for the poor.

He also comments on the Krakow WYD saying that every WYD is unique and has a way of sowing seeds of love and a sense of service to humanity.

“This year – he says – because of the theme of Mercy, there is a strong call for the young people to be protagonists in constructing a world that is destroyed by a lack of mercy, to take their vocation seriously”.

And he highlights the fact that Pope Francis has repeatedly called on the young people not to be timid, not to behave “as if they had already reached retirement mode” – they are just beginning.

The Pope tells young people, Tagle says “to appreciate the gift of youth, energy, zest, idealism, the capacity to dream and to bring all of these – not for self-promotion and not just for the fulfillment of myself – but for the service of humanity and for a better world”.

www.en.radiovaticana.va