Greg Daly50
The number of homeless and poor people led by Rome’s St Lucia parish, with financial assistance from Pope Francis, on a pilgrimage to see the Shroud of Turin on June 4. Parish priest Fr Antonio Nicolai said the Pope offered help to the pilgrims with “the conviction that, like the shroud, they represented the suffering face of the Lord Jesus”. Another Roman parish has been similarly funded to do the same in mid-June.
18,000
The number of immigrants, mostly from Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador, who have passed through the immigrant respite centre at Sacred Heart Parish, McAllen, Texas, since it opened on June 10 last year. The centre, founded by Sr Norma Pimental of the Missionaries of Jesus, provides essentials such as food, clothing, water and a place to rest. Prior to the centre opening, such immigrants slept on the floor of the local bus station, with volunteers bringing them food.