A homeless man sits under the right colonnade close to where the showers are going to be built in St. Peter’s square at the Vatican on Thursday (Nov 13, 2014). Religion News Service photo by Josephine McKenna
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – The Vatican will offer homeless people in Rome not only showers but also haircuts and shaves when new facilities open next month, the head of Pope Francis’ charity office said.
The Vatican announced last year that it would provide shower facilities in St Peter’s Square for homeless people.
Bishop Konrad Krajewski told the Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire on Thursday that it would also offer haircuts and shaves when the services start on Feb. 16 in an area under the colonnade of the square.
Krajewski, whose official title is the pope’s almoner, said barbers and hairdressers would volunteer their services on Mondays, the day their shops are traditionally closed in Italy.
They had already donated chairs, hair-cutting instruments, and mirrors, the newspaper’s website said.
Krajewski came up with the idea of building showers in St. Peter’s Square last year after a homeless person told him that while it was relatively easy to find places to eat at Rome charities, it was difficult to find places to wash.
He immediately received the pope’s backing for the shower project and then expanded it to include haircuts and shaves.
(Reporting By Philip Pullella; Editing by Susan Fenton)