Pope Shares Birthday Breakfast With Homeless

[Beacool]

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Four homeless people have helped Pope Francis celebrate his 77th birthday at the Vatican.

They live nearby and were invited to attend the morning Mass which Francis celebrates daily at the Vatican hotel where he lives. One of the men held his dog as he was presented to Francis after Mass. The Vatican said Francis invited his household help to join him in a "family-like" atmosphere, and he spoke of them one by one during his homily.

After Mass, all ate breakfast with Francis at the hotel.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/12/17/pope-birthday-homeless_n_4458357.html

Happy birthday, your Holiness!!! I wish you many healthy years as Pope.

[Arkana]

1. Francis is certainly a step in the right direction

for the Catholic Church. I wonder what possessed them to nominate him?

[Beacool]

3. Good judgment?

It's a pity that he came in second place to Benedict in the 2005 Conclave. Imagine how much more he could have done all these years.

[Hell Hath No Fury]

9. The Catholic church is losing Latinos -

especially those in/from Central America -- to evangelical fundamentalists. Latinos were bedrock RCC supporters but have been heavily courted in recent years. I suspected Francis' pick might have been, in part, a response to this new trend.

[vi5]

2. I'm as lapsed Catholic, hardcore atheist as they come....

...but I love this guy. Nice to see someone in a position of authority trying to actually make people look at and commit to Jesus's main teachings message and not focusing on the peripheral stuff people interpreted about later (abortion, gays, etc.).

[Beacool]

4. I hear you.

Although I was raised Catholic, I attend a Lutheran church. I don't think that I have ever been as excited about a Pope as I am about this one. I like him a lot. Do I agree with him on everything? Of course not, but I think that he's a breath of fresh air in a Church that had become complacent and fat for many years.

[vi5]

7. Exactly.

It's not like he's come out in favor of gay marriage and/or pro-choice positions or anything of the sort. He's simply pointed out that those issues were not actually anything Jesus talked about directly, and that the church has gone too far away from the core of those teachings (charity, compassion, etc.) and needs to address THOSE ills, more so than the other things that have gotten too much focus.

Again, good for him.

[freshwest]

5. Just curious about the menu... I wonder if was grain or something else. n/t

[dionysus]

6. egg mcmuffins and holy orange juice nt.

[freshwest]

12. I don't think they have MickyD in Italy. Eggs Benedict, I can see that. OJ, too. Seems like that

would be a luxurious meal for a person living a monastic life. I'm thinking oatmeal, but don't know what they do. The guys invited to breakfast looked hale and hearty for homeless folks. I wonder if they're renting out the palatial digs since Francis chose a small place...

[Beacool]

18. Yes, they do have McDonald's in Italy.

The only time I go into an American fast food place while traveling is to use their bathroom. It's hard to find public bathrooms in many cities without consuming, and how much can one drink and eat in one day?

[freshwest]

21. I read it and thought they did, just thinking that Vatican City might not allow it. But I left it

even though it's incorrect. I'm just having trouble seeing the pope eating and egg mcmuffin, is all, because of the ham. I know it's not taboo, but still..

[Beacool]

22. Catholics eat pork, that wouldn't be an issue.

I just don't think that he would be eating junk food, particularly on his birthday.

[freshwest]

25. Just a matter of my imagination. I don't envision monasteries raising and slaughtering pigs.

I do know they made or make wine at some of them. But my knowledge of what amounts to asceticism for them and the RCC itself is entirely lacking as I've only set foot in a Catholic church once, then discouraged from involvement with them further more than one time. It seemed to me that one had to be 'born Catholic.' This Pope seems to want to be inclusive.

I see a side of Francis that may show he is 'the real deal' in terms of what Catholics I know tell me following Christ is. And those I've talked to welcome his statements and the recent moves against overpoliticized, conservative Catholicism in the USA, which neglected the mission of caring for the poor and accepting.all.

Saint Francis of Assisi is said by many to not be vegetarian, but some Catholics believe it's right way to live and that he was, and once again, IDK:

http://www.ehow.com/facts_7501310_catholics-vegetarianism.html

Thanks for the interesting post on yerba mate and all of that. I knew it was an indigenous drink, and is touted by some as healthy, some disagree.

The Argentinian breakfast sounds pretty tasty. Sorry for thinking old fashioned on Italy. Of course they have fast food. And a number of Americans who live there year around.

I have had friends who met the Pope and lived a year near the Papal residence as their sons went to school in Rome and did not mention any fast food, but their assocations were not typical of many people.

See you around.

[Beacool]

27. Thanks for the response.

I know Argentina pretty well because I went to an Irish boarding school in high school in Buenos Aires (my dad was a diplomat). I love Buenos Aires and Argentina. Argentina is different than what most Americans think of as Hispanic culture. It used to be a very wealthy nation (it was ranked 8th in the world until WWII). Due to its wealth, it received masses of immigrants from Europe at the same time that we did here (the Ellis Island era). A country that only had 6M people received 2M immigrants, a full 1/3 of their entire population (which was mainly descendants from Spaniards, the indigenous population having been pretty much decimated by that time). The majority of people came from Northern Spain (Galicia) and Southern Italy (half of the phone book in Bs. As. are Italian last names). The Pope's parents immigrated around that time. There were also many Jewish people that fled the Russian pogroms. Argentina has the second largest Jewish population in the Western Hemisphere, second only to the US. In the 19th century there was a large Irish immigration due to the potato famine. Eastern Europeans and Germans also arrived, but in smaller numbers.

Due to all these immigrants, the Argentine culture is quite European. Buenos Aires is called the Paris of the South. The food reflects that influence. It's a meat and potato type of country. The joke is that they breakfast like the French, have lunch like the Americans, tea like the British and dinner like the Spaniards. The food is great, they have very good pasta and pizza; and superlative beef (much better than what passes for good beef here). They have huge amounts of cattle that are grass fed in savannas called "pampas". Argentina is known the world over for their beef, wines and the tango. The tango originated in the brothels of Buenos Aires. The European men were lonely, they didn't speak the language and were poor. They would go to the brothels for company, they were almost like a social club to them. There usually was a piano player at these places and there would be singing and dancing. That's where tango originated. The tango was not accepted by the middle and upper classes until the late 20s when the famous tango singer Carlos Gardel took it to Paris and it became a success.

I didn't mean to go on, but I have found out that Americans tend not to know much about Latin America and think that they are all like Mexicans or the residents of the Caribbean islands (Puerto Rico, Cuba, etc.).

[Beacool]

13. Hmmm, good question.

Argentines have breakfast like the French: coffee, bread (crusty & delicious) with butter and jam or "facturas" (pastries that include croissants). Of course some people prefer similar healthy options as the ones we have here: smoothies, yogurt, fruit, etc.

I know that the Pope likes his "mates" (a slightly bitter herbal tea that is traditionally served in a gourd). The "yerba" is put in the gourd and hot water is poured on top. The first mate is spit out because it tends to be bitter, a tad of sugar can be added for sweetness. The mate is drunk through a "bombilla", a metal straw like object that has a little strainer at the end that doesn't allow the yerba to pass through. I love "mate cocidos", it's the yerba in teabag form and you make it like regular tea. I just had a cup last night.



Package of yerba


package of yerba in teabag form


mate and bombilla


bombilla


The then Archbishop of Buenos Aires sharing a mate


The president of Argentina, Cristina Kirchner, gifting the Pope with a mate and bombilla

[SidDithers]

8. Happy Birthday, Pope Photo-Op!...nt

Sid

[MannyGoldstein]

26. Imagine! Using a bully pulpit!

Unheard of these days, I know. But there was this Teddy Roosevelt guy...

[Brigid]

10. Happy Birthday, Your Holiness!

[SummerSnow]

11. Omg, why isn't he having breakfast with dignitaries, wtf?

[Beacool]

14. The Right will be apoplectic.

He's going to get homeless cooties. The Pope is just affirming his Marxist credentials, Limbaugh and Fox will be up in arms.

[calimary]

15. And as that happens, I will celebrate and be glad!

If the limbaugh/Pox Noise contingent doesn't like him, then he's more than okay by me!

[el_bryanto]

17. The Right won't give a shit about this

Unless the Pope says something about how our society creates homeless people by having the wrong priorities. The Right Wing are at least theoretically in favor of charity; they just don't want to address any of the underlying issues that create the need for charity.

Bryant

[rbrnmw]

16. I Love Him Happy Birthday your Holiness

I hope Rush chokes on his Oxycontin when he finds out

[Vashta Nerada]

19. Like, OMG. He's the best thing since fire.

Nice photo - op.

[LittleBlue]

20. The right will be infuriated

The pope gave them a free meal. Damned socialist.

[Liberal_in_LA]

23. and then allowed them to move into the vatican?

[Beacool]

24. The Vatican is mostly a museum and a government office building.

Are homeless people living at the WH or any other presidential residence in any other country?