Vatican City, 16 November, 2025 / 7:15 pm (ACI Africa).
Pope Leo XIV had lunch on Sunday with more than 1,300 people experiencing poverty and social exclusion, gathering with them in the Vatican’s Paul VI Hall for a festive meal marking the World Day of the Poor.
The hall was transformed into a vast dining room for the occasion. The event was organized by the Congregation of the Mission on behalf of Vincentian missionaries worldwide, who this year celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of their congregation and of the Daughters of Charity. Volunteers served lasagna, breaded chicken with potatoes, and the traditional Italian dessert babà.
As on similar occasions in past years, the Vatican, through the papal almoner Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, invited a group of transgender people from the Roman seaside town of Torvaianica. Father Andrea Conocchia, a parish priest in Torvaianica, told ACI Prensa that he had accompanied about 50 transgender people from his community to the event.
In a special effort to highlight dignity and respect, the Vatican provided full table service with proper dishes, flatware, and table linens—avoiding plastic or disposable materials. Organizers said the aim was not only to offer a meal but to create an experience of welcome and care for each guest.
After the meal, the pope thanked the Vincentian family for its service to the most vulnerable. “This lunch that we now receive is offered by Providence and by the great generosity of the Vincentian Community, to whom we wish to express our gratitude,” he said.
