Pope Francis, baptized as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, celebrated his patron saint’s feast day every April 23. The patron saint’s day of the pope is a holiday at the Vatican and Pope Francis usually celebrated it with acts of charity toward people in need.
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The patron saint of the late pontiff, St. George, is credited with protecting the papacy and is also known as an intercessor in the fight against evil.
Pope Francis was known to take every opportunity to celebrate special occasions with the poorest, as was also the case on his birthday, when he often invited hundreds of them to dine with him at the Vatican.
In 2018, the Holy Father surprised the world with his unusual gesture of distributing ice cream to the poor of Rome to celebrate St. George’s feast day.
On that occasion, with the help of the apostolic almoner, nearly 3,000 servings of ice cream were distributed in the city’s soup kitchens. This initiative set the tone for subsequent celebrations of St. George’s feast day.
In 2019, Pope Francis gave a 44-pound chocolate Easter egg to the poor who came to the Caritas soup kitchen in central Rome.
In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck the world, the Holy Father donated 10 ventilators to hospitals in Romania, Italy, and Spain.
Subsequently, on April 23, 2021, Pope Francis visited the Paul VI Hall in the Vatican to greet the more than 600 poor people waiting their turn to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as part of the Vatican’s solidarity vaccination campaign.
It was common for Pope Francis to make these kinds of gestures to the poor of the city of which he was bishop. In fact, a few years ago he ordered the construction of showers in St. Peter’s Square as well as a health care center and shelters.
The Holy Father also invited those in need to visit the Vatican Museums, gave them a gala dinner near Piazza Bernini, and even established a special day for them, the World Day of the Poor.
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.
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Almudena Martínez-Bordiú is a graduate in Journalism and Advertising from CEU San Pablo University in Madrid, with studies at LUMSA in Rome. Former Vatican correspondent for ACI Prensa and EWTN. Now Europe correspondent based in Madrid, covering major Catholic events and Church affairs.
