Pope Francis donates €200,000 to fund prison pasta project
Last week, Pope Francis unexpectedly visited Italy's most overcrowded prison, Regina Coeli, and extended his greetings to the inmates. Following the cleric's death, it was revealed that he had made an extraordinary gesture.
During his 12 years as Pope, Francis has visited prisons numerous times, often planning these visits just before Easter to extend his wishes to the prisoners. This year was no different. The leader of the Catholic Church spent around half an hour at Regina Coeli, meeting with a group of 70 people. "I pray for you and your families," said Pope Francis, as quoted by Business Insider.
Only after the Pope's death did it emerge that he had taken a certain action. The auxiliary bishop of Rome and the papal delegate for prisons, Benoni Ambarus, who accompanied Francis during his last visit, revealed everything.
"I’ve almost used up all the money"
The Italian service Rai News reported on the event. The information was released to the media by Benoni Ambarus. It turned out that Pope Francis decided to financially support a pasta factory project being built in the Casal del Marmo prison.
"I told him that we have a big mortgage for this pasta factory and if we can reduce it we will lower the price of pasta, sell more and hire more boys," revealed Benoni Ambarus in a statement to the ANSA agency.
The Pope reportedly said: "Almost all my money is finished, but I still have something in my account," as quoted by Business Insider.
The cleric donated €200,000, which is roughly £175,000.
