Shaggy and unshaved homeless Romans queued up Monday under the curve of Bernini's historic colonnade as the Vatican began its first day of free barber services. The service is designed to operate every Monday to serve the homeless while in the same area, showers are now available for those in need daily, excluding Wednesday when St. Peter's is often swamped by pilgrims for the pope's weekly general audience.
Both services are part of a new move by Pope Francis and the Vatican to offer more concrete aide to people in need from the city around them.
Many were lining up along Monday morning while some were assisted by nuns from the order Sisters of Mother Teresa.
The shower service, including two free toiletries kits with soap, shampoo, toothpaste and brushes, a razor and shaving cream, is to be organized by volunteers.
The ideas for these services sprang out of a soup kitchen conversation last November, when a homeless person told Pope Francis's official almsgiver that soup kitchens were readily available to the homeless in Rome but it was difficult to find places to wash.
From there, renovations to a bathroom facility off of St.
Peter's Square led to last week's opening of the shower complex, funded by local parishes and furnished with three showers as well as the barber chair.
Volunteer barbers will offer their grooming services each Monday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and a Rome barber school has donated razors, brushes, scissors, a mirror and a barber's chair for the premises.
Monday was chosen for the Vatican service because it's the traditional closing day for barbershops and hairstylists in Italy.
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