Pope Benedict visits Mother Teresa’s shelter for homeless in the Vatican

(Jan. 4, 2008) Pope Benedict XVI on Friday visited the centre for the homeless in the Vatican run by the Missionaries of Charity of Mother Teresa of Calcutta and said that for anybody receiving the love and care of the nuns and volunteers there, it is indeed a gift of Mary. Pope Benedict paid a visit to the “Dono di Maria” or “The Gift of Mary” centre which Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa inaugurated on May 21st 1988,. It is next door to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the Vatican department which Pope Benedict head from 1981 as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger before his election as Pope in April, 2005.
Visiting ‘Dono di Maria’ for the first time as pontiff, Pope Benedict recalled that when the centre was started, Blessed Mother Teresa wished to name it the Gift of Mary so that anyone entering there could always experience the love of the Virgin Mary. He said, “It is indeed a Gift of Mary for anyone who knocks at its door and is received by the loving embrace of the nuns and their volunteers.” Furthermore, the Pope added, those who stop and listen to those in difficulty and serve them with the attitude of the Mother of God towards St. Elizabeth, are also the Gift of Mary. Pope Benedict recalled a popular saying of Mother Teresa: It is Christmas every time we allow Jesus to love others through us. Christmas, the Pope pointed out, helps us to understand that God never abandons us and comes to meet us, protects us and is concerned about each one of us, because every person, especially the smallest and the defenceless is precious in the eyes of the Father, who is rich in tenderness and mercy.
“Dono di Maria”, currently managed by 8 nuns, has a capacity of 74 beds for homeless women. Besides offering food to the inmates and those that stand at their door, the nuns also share the World of God with them. Pope Benedict wished that this style of evangelical love seal and mark the vocation of the Missionaries of Charity, so that besides the material help they offer, they may be able to communicate to those they come in contact with, that very passion for Christ and that shining ‘smile of God’ that has marked the life of Mother Teresa.