Pope Francis orders construction of showers for the homeless in St. Peter's Square

Pope Francis orders construction of showers for the homeless in St. Peter&#039;s Square — (Image credit: Franco Origlia/Getty Images)

Pope Francis is continuing his sometimes unconventional efforts to show compassion for the poor by building showers for the homeless in St. Peter's Square, a Vatican spokesman said Thursday. The three showers will be added in revamped public restrooms for Catholic pilgrims under the white colonnade leading into the Vatican's basilica, built in 1626. Construction is scheduled to begin next week. Read more at The Washington Post.

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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.