Report: Pope Francis "Secretly" Sneaks Out of the Vatican at Night…to Care For Poor People

Daniel Doherty | February 13, 2014 4:00 PM

He’s prohibited from doing so, of course, but he apparently does so anyway.

I can’t say I’m too surprised. Can you? And while I’m not necessarily condoning these sort of late night excursions -- after all, leaving the Vatican at night after dark without a security escort isn’t the safest thing in the world for the Bishop of Rome to be doing. Nevertheless, doesn’t this sound like something Pope Francis would do? Absolutely.

From the Latinos Post:

Pope Francis might be sneaking out of the Vatican, evading security guards at nights with the intention of secretly helping the homeless on the streets of Rome, according to Catholic website Aci Prensa.

The Pope named Konrad Krajewski the Papal Almoner, a Bishop that had already served Pope John Paul II and who inferred during a press conference that Pope Francis might be sneaking out at night to help the poor.

Krajewski explained that Pope Francis might get into trouble since the Vatican forbids nocturnal outings to the Pope.

"At the beginning, when I used to walk Rome at night, sometimes the Pope would ask me if he could come along, and he didn't realize the problems he could create if her left the Vatican", Krajewski said.

Apparently, Pope Francis is no stranger to helping the poor after dark, either:

When he was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires in Argentina, Pope Francis would go out every night to help the poor, sharing food and sitting with them on the streets. Which, according to Aci, led the role of Almoner to take on a new meaning since instead of helping from an office, Francis asked Krajewski to go out on the streets to help.

"Oh, how I wish for a Church that is poor and for the poor!” he once lamented. Therefore, attending to and caring for “the least among us” is a central component of his ministry; indeed, he is so committed and so determined to helping the poor that he is leading this effort by example, and encouraging other church leaders to do so as well. So even if the rumors aren’t true -- and they may not be -- there’s something profoundly moving about a world leader hiding from his security detail just to bring comfort and joy to the anguished souls of Rome living in poverty.

This is something Christ would do.