Pope Francis honors people who care for ‘poorest of the poor’ on his 86th birthday

By Courtney Mares

Vatican City, Dec 17, 2022 / 04:40 am

Pope Francis celebrated his 86th birthday on Saturday with the Missionaries of Charity, honoring three people who care for “the poorest of the poor” with the Mother Teresa Award.

On Dec. 17, the pope presented Gian Piero, Father Hanna Jallouf, and Silvano Pedrollo with the award and a message of gratitude.

“Thank you for this visit so full of affection and full of messages: the message of poverty, the message of closeness, the message of fraternity, the message of prayer, which is the legacy Mother Teresa always gave us,” Pope Francis said.

According to the Vatican Dicastery for the Service of Charity, who sponsored the award, Pedrollo is a businessman from Verona who contributes a “significant portion of his company’s profits to assist and help the poorest in several nations in Africa, India, and Latin America, building schools, wells, and health facilities.”

Father Jallouf is a Franciscan who served the poor in Syria amid the violence of the civil war and Gian Piero is a homeless man who is known to give part of the alms that he receives each day to others who are worse off than him.

On his birthday, Pope Francis prayed for the intercession of St. Teresa of Calcutta, whom he canonized as a saint in 2016.

“May Mother Teresa help us from heaven to live poverty with simplicity and prayer, so that we can help others,” he said.

Courtney Mares is a Rome Correspondent for Catholic News Agency. A graduate of Harvard University, she has reported from news bureaus on three continents and was awarded the Gardner Fellowship for her work with North Korean refugees.