Pope Opens Sistine Chapel To Homeless

Pope Francis, in another bold demonstration of walking the talk and fostering human rights, is using the Sistine Chapel and tapping corporate resources to raise funds for the poor and homeless. Francis surprised over 100 homeless who were in the chapel Thursday.

Pope Francis made a surprise personal visit to 150 homeless people on a special tour of the Sistine Chapel. Francis greeted them in the chapel.

“This is everyone’s house. It is your house,” Francis said, according to a Vatican spokes person statement about the event at which no reporters, photographers or cameraman were allowed.

Sistine Chapel, New Homeless Fundraising Venue

A concert Saturday in collaboration with Porsche amid splendor of Michelangelo’s frescoes, will be attended by a select group of about 40 high-paying tourists registered for an exclusive tour of Italy.

Monsignor Paolo Nicolini, administrative director of the Vatican Museums, said firms like Porsche would be asked for donations to use the Sistine Chapel, with funds then passed to Catholic charities of the Pope’s choice.

“It is an initiative which will support the Pope’s charity projects, Nicolini said. “It is aimed at big companies which, through the payment of a fee, can contribute to charity activities.”

Known as “the slum bishop” in his native Buenos Aires for his frequent visits to shanty towns and now leading the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, Pope Francis has made the poor central to his papacy.

As the Pope’s latest unprecedented Sistine Chapel program was announced, the Vatican also announced limiting the number of visitors in the chapel to the current total of six million, amid fears of frescoes being damaged simply by too many tourists.

The Vatican refrained from divulging expected earnings from the event. The five-day tour of Rome arranged by Porsche Travel Club costs up to 5,000 euros per head, an overall price of 200,000 euros.

The concert will be performed by a choir from Accademia di Santa Cecilia in Rome, of 16th century origins. Attendees will then be served a “gala dinner” amid Vatican Museums “surrounded by masterpieces by world-famous artists such as Michelangelo and Raphael,” according to a written statement.

“It’s a one-off event and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” a Porsche Travel Club spokesperson told The Telegraph. “It will be the highlight of the trip.”

The bold non-conventional Pope Francis, the first Latin American Pope, wants the Vatican’s incomparable cultural heritage treasures to be put to good use benefiting the needy. Shortly after elected in March, he called for a “poor Church for the poor.” Throughout his life, Francis supported the social justice ethos of Latin American Catholicism, including a robust defense of the poor and the human right basic principle, equality.

Concerts have been held in the Sistine Chapel before, but only for private Church audiences, including events honoring Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Restricting visits to six million a year could mean introducing a reservations-only booking system, rather than today’s free-for-all that tourists can book online through travel agencies or queue at the gates.

As former Cardinal Bergoglio, at a meeting of Latin American bishops in 2007, Pope Francis emphasized the importance of and his reverence for human rights. He said “[W]e live in the most unequal part of the world, which has grown the most, yet reduced misery the least” and that “[t]he unjust distribution of goods persists, creating a situation of social sin that cries out to Heaven and limits the possibilities of a fuller life for so many of our brothers”

During a 48-hour public servant strike in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Bergoglio observed the differences between “poor people who are persecuted for demanding work, and rich people who are applauded for fleeing from justice”

In his over 40 years as a Catholic priest, Pope Francis drew “high marks as an accomplished intellectual, having studied theology in Germany.” He has asked, when the going gets tough, “are we courageous like Peter or a bit lukewarm?

In 2013, Pope Francis said that St. Francis of Assisi “longed for a poor Church that looked after others, accepted monetary help and used it to help others with no thought of itself.”