Vatican City — Sunday, November 19th, marked the seventh edition of the World Day of the Poor. The initiative was started by Pope Francis to urge the Church to “go outside” its walls and encounter poverty in all its shapes and forms, all over the world today.  

During the week leading up to the World Day of the Poor, the Madre di Misericordia Clinic, a facility located next to Saint Peter’s Square, offered special medical care to the poorest. 

Dr. Massimo Ralli, the hospital’s manager, explained the special work of the clinic, “This is the clinic of the Department of Charity Service that offers year-round, daily free care to the poor and needy. This week though, the hours will be a little longer, so instead of just being open in the morning, the clinic will also be open in the afternoon to offer as much free care to as many poor as possible.” 

The team in charge of this healthcare initiative consists of a group of 50 doctors and nurses who are all volunteers.    

One volunteer, Dr. Cedola, explained the functioning of the clinic, “In the morning after a briefing, the nurses, doctors and practitioners go to the various rooms and each room is dedicated to a specialty. There is the cardiology part, the gynecology part, and the general medicine part. So then everyone, depending on the needs of the patient, does their own work within the clinic.”  

In the lead up to World Day of the Poor, they saw twice as many people as usual, about 130 patients a day. Once the patient receives a diagnosis, a treatment plan is drawn up so that they can be cared for in the weeks and months ahead.   

Further Dr. Cedola spoke of special cases, “When we see the need for a specialist visit, the patient is referred directly to the specialist doctor. Then, however, we ask the patient to return to the general practitioner who first took care of him or her, so that we can then take stock of his or her medical history a bit and possibly refer him or her for treatment or at least chronic therapy in order to arrange subsequent follow-up visits.” 

On Sunday morning, the Holy Father presided over Mass with the poor in the Vatican Basilica, followed by a special lunch in the Paul VI Hall.