The following is the greeting addressed by the Holy Father Francis to journalists, volunteers and vendors of street journals, who experience great difficulty in this period of the health emergency:

Greeting of the Holy Father

D.S.M. 21 April 2020

The life of millions of people, in our world that is already gripped by many difficult challenges to face and oppressed by the pandemic, has changed and has been put to a harsh test. Those who are most fragile, the invisible, those without fixed abode, risk paying the heaviest price.

I would therefore like to greet the world of street newspapers and especially their vendors, who are for the most part homeless; people who are gravely marginalised, unemployed: thousands of people who throughout the world earn a living and have a job thanks to the sales of these extraordinary newspapers.

In Italy, I think of the good experience of Scarp de’ tenis, the Caritas project that enables more than 130 people in difficulty to have an income and as a result, access to fundamental citizens’ rights. And not only this. I think of the experience of more than 100 street newspapers throughout the world, published in 35 different countries and in 25 different languages, and which guarantee employment and an income to more than 20,500 homeless people worldwide. For many weeks street newspapers have not been sold, and their vendors are unable to work. I therefore wish to express my closeness to the journalists, to the volunteers, and to those who earn a living thanks to these projects and who in these times are hard at work with many innovative ideas. The pandemic has made your work difficult but I am sure that the large global network of street newspapers will come back stronger than before. Looking at the poorest, in these days, can help us all to be aware of what is truly happening to us, and of our true condition. I send you all my message of encouragement and fraternal friendship. Thank you for the work you do, for the information you give, and for the stories of hope you tell.

FRANCIS