Vatican Offers Showers, Haircuts, And Shaves To Homeless

Since taking on the role of leader of the world's Catholics, Pope Francis has called on all people to be considerate of and care for the poor of the world. The pope is taking this a step further with a new ministry that sees the Vatican offering showers, shaves, and haircuts to the homeless of Rome.

Last November, the Vatican announced it would install showers for homeless men and women in the public restrooms near Bernini's Colonnade in St. Peter's Square, according to Fox News.  The shower facility and barber shop will open on February 16. The barber shop will be open on Mondays, staffed by professional barbers who have offered to volunteer their time to the Vatican. This move by the barbers of Rome is especially generous, as barbers do not traditionally open on Mondays.

The shower and shave ministry arose after a Msgr. Krajewski dined with a homeless man who indicated a desire by Rome's less fortunate to bathe and groom themselves. 'Our primary concern is to give people their dignity...when a person has no means of washing themselves, they are rejected by society and we all know a homeless person cannot enter a public establishment such as a bar or a restaurant and ask to use the bathroom because they are told to go away.'

The monsignor added, 'But of course, showering and washing one’s underwear is not enough. A person needs to keep their hair and facial hair tidy, also in order to prevent diseases. This is another service that homeless people do not have easy access to. It is not easy for them to enter a normal shop because there may be a fear of customers catching something, like scabies for example.'

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