Pope invites prisoners to lunch, they break free instead

Bologna, Italy, Oct 17, 2017 / 03:01 am (CNA/EWTN News).- They were supposed to be having lunch with Pope Francis.

During his Oct. 1 trip to Bologna, the Holy Father was scheduled to dine with 20 prisoners from a local drug rehabilitation facility, along with refugees and the poor of the area, during a “Lunch of Solidarity” at San Petronio Basilica.

Instead, two of the Italian prisoners shirked their invitation for what they saw as a prime opportunity for escape.

According to Bologna newspaper Il Resto del Carlino, the prisoners escaped sometime during the hour, though it is unclear whether they first ate lunch.

They have yet to be found.

Pope Francis regularly includes prisoners in his trips and events, including washing the feet of prisoners on Holy Thursday and holding a Jubilee Mass for prisoners at the Vatican last year.


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7 Comments

  1. Why doesn’t he have lunch with all of those victims of sexual abuse by priests instead of with prisoners who have violated the rights of others?

    • That could be awkward. He’d have to explain why when church law forbid those men from being ordained (for obvious reasons) he (likely) and others like him took the “who am I to judge” attitude and ordained them anyway. Then figured a few weeks of talking about it to an ‘expert’ cured them forever. and so on…

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