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VATICAN CITY. In these late summer days, on a free beach on the Lazio coast of Passoscuro-Palidoro, you can meet a cardinal in a bathing suit, T-shirt and sunglasses. It is Konrad Krajewski, His Holiness’s alms giver. He is not on vacation. It is taking the poor of Rome on a “short but refreshing vacation.” On behalf of the Pope, he also offers pizza at night. “The Holy Father wants to restore dignity to these people – the Cardinal told La Stampa – who desperately need to escape for a few hours from the sad and harsh daily reality, from which they never leave. That’s why Francesco asked me to accompany them to the sea and to the pizzeria ».
Thus, the vagabonds of the capital, Diocese of the Pontiff, can enjoy a small but precious vacation: bathing, diving and walking, and then, at night, all in the “Cantinaccia” pizzeria of Palidoro.
To go to the beach almost every day -except on weekends because the coasts are too crowded- the homeless who gravitate to San Pietro get into the cars and minibuses driven by Krajewski and his collaborators: “We left in the afternoon, when people go down to the water’s edge. ”Destination public beaches, with groups of“ 13-15 at the same time, especially to avoid gatherings, but also to be able to dialogue with greater involvement of those present. ”Everything happens” in full compliance with anti-Covid regulations: the groups come each time from the same bedroom, they are made up of people who live together. We provide all of them with beach equipment: towels and swimsuits ».
The needy “are not used to life on the beach, they don’t last long. There are those who bathe, those who walk. Then, at 7:30 p.m., everyone in the pizzeria, always outdoors, for the great” pontifical pizzas “: I call them that because Pope Francis pays them”, smiles the Polish cardinal. At the table we talked about the day, but above all “we spontaneously share our respective problems, concerns, anxieties, frustrations. They all tell their story, their suffering and their pain. But you also try to joke. That is the most important moment, which lasts up to three hours: these people have a desperate need to open up, express themselves, speak and be heard. Feel free. Receive loving looks. Friendship. ” During these dinners “their faces are illuminated again by the joy of dignity. My heart opens to me ».
For Krajewski, “what matters most is that the poor get a taste of normality, enjoy a few hours of leisure. They are happy and return to the bedroom more serene. For them, days like this are a gift, because otherwise they would not have the opportunity to see the sea and eat pizza in a relaxed atmosphere.
Tomorrow we leave again: the minibus and the Vatican cars are ready for another mission of good on the Passoscuro beach. And in September “we will also take women with mental disorders cared for by the Sisters of Mother Teresa to the sea.
