He once traveled to Lesbos, in Greece, to bring refugee s to Rome and provided 1,600 free calling cards to recently arrived migrants on the island of Lampedusa so they could let their families know they had survived the perilous Mediterranean crossing.
The existence of the Vatican almoner dates back centuries. It is mentioned in a papal bull from the 13th-century Pope Innocent III, and Pope Gregory X, who ruled from 1271-1276, organized it into an official Holy See office for papal charity.
Until Krajewski came along, the almoner was typically an aging Vatican diplomat who was serving his final years before being allowed to retire at age 75. Francis changed that, making it a much more dynamic position that enlisted off-duty Swiss Guards to deliver meals to homeless people on cold nights and write checks to needy people in the name of the pope.
The office funds its work by producing papal parchments, handmade certificates with a photo of the pope that the faithful can buy for a particular occasion — say a wedding, baptism or priestly ordination — with the name of the recipient and an apostolic blessing written in calligraphy.
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