Pope Francis blesses the “Sheltering” sculpture

In the Vatican City, as part of the  Sixth World Day of the Poor , celebrated on Sunday, 13 ^th November 2022, 13,  Pope Francis  blessed  “Sheltering” , a sculpture depicting the plight of homeless people. The celebration was attended by Congregation Leaders – Sister Francoise Petit (Daughters of Charity) and Fr Tomaž Mavrič (Congregation of the Mission) and Mark McGreevy from the FamVin Homeless Alliance

“Sheltering”  is a life-size bronze sculpture depicting the figure of a homeless person covered by a blanket pulled by a pigeon in flight. The sculpture is the work of Canadian artist, Timothy Schmalz who commented on his work:

“With Sheltering I wanted to highlight the plight of the homeless, offer them comfort and promote practical solutions such as the Vincentian Family 13 Houses Campaign”,  Schmalz said of his reasons for creating the sculpture. He added:  “It is everyone’s job to provide the homeless with a roof over their heads. To make them visible and address their needs”.

View Video here https://vfhomelessalliance.org/sheltering/

About the World Day of the Poor
The World Day of the Poor was established by Pope Francis in his Apostolic Letter, Misericordia et Misera, published on November 20th, 2016 to celebrate the end of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. Since then, it has been celebrated every year on the 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time since 2017.
More information:  https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/es/messages/poveri.html