Chaput to visit sites to focus on poverty
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput is expected to tour city shelters, soup kitchens, food pantries, and health clinics Monday to draw attention to the issues of homelessness and hunger in advance of Pope Francis' visit to Philadelphia in the fall.
Archbishop Charles J. Chaput is expected to tour city shelters, soup kitchens, food pantries, and health clinics Monday to draw attention to the issues of homelessness and hunger in advance of Pope Francis' visit to Philadelphia in the fall.
The tour, in which the archbishop will be joined by civic and business leaders from across the region, will be dubbed the Óscar Romero Day of Commitment, after a former archbishop of San Salvador known for his dedication to bettering conditions for the poor in his country, the archdiocese said Sunday.
Romero was assassinated at the altar in 1980, after issuing a public call to soldiers in El Salvador to buck government orders and stand up for the rights of the nation's impoverished.
Last month, Pope Francis declared Romero a martyr for the Catholic faith, a crucial step in the path to canonization as a saint.
Monday's event in Philadelphia was organized by members of the World Meeting of Families' hunger and homelessness committee, an advisory board charged with using the papal visit in September as an opportunity to spark discussion and advocacy on behalf of the poor.
The group is led by Sister Mary Scullion, executive director of the Philadelphia housing nonprofit Project HOME.
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