After opening profiles on Twitter and Instagram, Peter’s Pence is also arriving on Facebook, first with a page in Italian and subsequently with versions in Spanish and English, which are expected to appear online in September and October. The aim is to create a virtual space open to all to share and make known the works of charity supported by this longstanding initiative.

The decision to use the world’s most widespread social network has a dual objective: on the one hand, to create a community open to all with widespread use of Facebook at grassroots level, starting from Italy, and on the other, to share and recount the activity of this longstanding Office of Solidarity.

Peter’s Pence, on Facebook, is intended to promote dialogue with all those people who share the common intention of helping those most in need and supporting works of charity in a concrete way. Indeed, for centuries Peter’s Pence has been engaged in supporting projects, great and small, all over the world, such as the extension of the “Filippo Smaldone” Institute for poor and hard-of-hearing children in Kigali, Rwanda; the allocation of ten study grants to help young displaced university students from Iraqi Kurdistan or the opening of a new primary school for Dalit children in India.

These and other works of charity, and the initiatives that await Peter’s Pence, will be discussed in depth and with continuous news updates on the Facebook page “Obolo di San Pietro”, recalling that traditionally the Collection takes place throughout all the Catholic world, according to the diocese, on either 29 June, Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul, or on the Sunday closest to this Solemnity.

As in the case of the site and profiles already active on other social platforms, this iniative too was born by the will of the Holy See and as the fruit of close collaboration between the Secretariat of State, the Secretariat for Communication, and the Governorate of Vatican City State.

For further information on Peter’s Pence, it is possible to consult the site www.obolodisanpietro.va.

About Peter’s Pence

Peter’s Pence is the economic assistance that the faithful offer directly to the Holy Father, for the many needs of the universal Church and for works of charity to help those most in need.

From the same Christianity there arises the practice of giving material support to those who have the mission of announcing the Gospel and taking care of those most in need (cf. Acts of the Apostles 4:34; 11:29).

At the end of the eighteenth century, the Anglo-Saxons decided to send a regular annual contribution to the Holy Father, the “Denarius Sancti Petri” (Alms to St. Peter). Pope Pius IX officially recognized Peter’s Pence in the Encyclical Saepe venerabilis of 5 August 1871.

From 2016, the Holy See decided to make Peter’s Pence more accessible and to establish a dialogue with faithful throughout the world on the need for and the effects of charity towards those most in need. In order to do this, the site and the social channels dedicated to this centuries-long tradition were created.