Pope Francis visits ex-prostitutes

Pope Francis: showing love were there was none

Pope Francis on Friday surprised 20 former prostitutes by popping in for a surprise visit at their safe house in Rome.

The women who had been rescued from their pimps were given shelter and protection at an apartment run by a Catholic charity in Italy’s capital.

The pontiff took his time to chat with the women, some of which were trafficked from Africa and elsewhere in Europe, for more than an hour.

The 79-year-old cleric has repeatedly described human trafficking as a “crime against humanity”.

The Pope sat down with the women, including seven Nigerians, six Romanians and four Albanians, and listened to their stories of forced prostitution, the Vatican said.

The other three in the group came from Italy, Tunisia and the Ukraine.

The Vatican also stated that the women were all aged about 30 and had “suffered serious physical abuse” and now lived under protection.

Most times, these women are promised jobs, once the traffickers bring them to Italy and other western European countries, they force them into prostitution.

Pope Francis encouraged the former sex workers “to be strong” as they started their new lives with the help of the Pope John XXIII Community.

The unannounced visit to the prostitutes came under what the Vatican terms the Pope’s “Fridays of Mercy”, focusing on communities that have experienced suffering.

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