Pope meets Sts. Peter and Paul Association, children travelling by train

Less than a week before Saturday’s feast of Rome’s patrons, Sts. Peter and Paul, Pope Francis, Sunday morning, met members of a key volunteer group in the Vatican, urging them to continue serving with love and magnanimity. The Saints Peter and Paul Association offers support to pilgrims at St. Peter’s Basilica and assists at papal liturgies. It also has charitable works, offering time and funding to various charities around Rome. Pope Francis expressed appreciation and gratitude for their work, saying that “the concrete attention given to others, to the poorest, the weakest and the neediest is a distinctive sign of the Christian.” He congratulated 22 new members admitted to the association. “It is beautiful to be a part of an association like yours, to serve without asking anything in return, as Jesus did.” He urged them to do this with magnanimity saying, “Your witness will be more convincing and efficacious, and even your service will be better and more joyful.”
Also on Sunday, hundreds of children of different nationalities got the chance of a lifetime to meet Pope Francis. They made their way by train from Milan making two stops in Bologna and Florence before arriving at the Vatican Train Station where the Pope greeted them. During his time with the children the Pope enquired about how they enjoyed their trip and wished them a lovely day in Rome. The objective of the initiative is to promote the direct experience of artistic creation, bringing the littlest ones closer to visual communication and the language of images, from which sprang the idea of a journey through beauty. The event is part of the 'Courtyard of Children' sponsored by the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture.