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September 5, 2023By Paulina Guzik, OSV News
(OSV News) -- If someone can be called "the pope's team," a group of homeless men surely can: They helped to unload a truck full of supplies for Ukraine Aug. 30, and Pope Francis personally thanked them Aug. 31.
"I asked them whether they'll come again today and so they came all dressed in their work clothes. Instead of work, we surprised them with the Holy Father personally thanking them," Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, papal almoner and prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, told OSV News.
"The pope knew they worked hard," he said.
The trucks were unloaded next to the Ukrainian Catholic Basilica of Santa Sofia in Rome, the main hub for distribution of aid for the war-torn country.
Supplies unloaded by homeless men came all the way from South Korea, and the truck was loaded with dried soups.
"After unloading dried meals for Ukraine, we invited the homeless men for lunch that was prepared by the sisters in Santa Sofia," Cardinal Krajewski said.
"They were paid for unloading the truck; they got the money to buy something to eat or some clothes," he added.
The homeless men from Argentina, Peru, Brazil, Italy, Dominican Republic and Congo stay temporarily in Palazzo Migliori, a palace-turned-shelter, located right next to the famous Bernini Colonnade.
"We help them 'stand on their feet,' find a job, and have a warm meal every day," c said.
The papal almoner plans to bring the supplies with him to Ukraine when he travels to the war-torn country in September to open a shelter for mothers run by Albertine sisters.
Known for his support for Ukraine, the Polish cardinal was asked about his reaction to the pope's remarks in a video call Aug. 25 to a youth gathering in St. Petersburg, in which the pontiff praised the country's past empire and urged young people to "never give up this heritage."
"During the war such speeches are difficult, it's like a minefield," the cardinal said.
When Cardinal Krajewski goes to Ukraine in September, it will be his seventh time there. Since 2022, he has regularly delivered needed items to the war-torwn country and also has prayed for the dead at the sites of mass graves. The Dicastery for the Service of Charity, led by the Polish cardinal, spent $2.2 million in 2022 on humanitarian help for Ukraine.