Special guests at dinner under Bernini's colonnade - the homeless

The lighting of a Christmas tree and unveiling of a Nativity scene at the Vatican on Dec. 9 included a group of special guests. For the first time in history, 150 homeless people had a festive meal, served by Italian journalists and their families, under the famous baroque Bernini’s colonnade in St. Peter’s Square.

The meal was organized by the Dicastery for the Service of Charity and St. Peter’s Parish with the support of the Governorate of Vatican City State as part of the “actions of a social nature of the Papal Basilica of St. Peter’s in preparation for the Jubilee” of 2025.

The Nativity scene is unveiled and the Christmas tree is lighted in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Dec. 9, 2023. (CNS photo/Lola Gomez)

“When the pastor of St. Peter’s Basilica approached me to organize it here, under the colonnade, I said — maybe not, maybe in the warmth, somewhere in the restaurant,” Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity told OSV News. But then, Franciscan Father Agnello Stoia convinced the cardinal that Bernini’s colonnade was the right place.

“You know why? Because it’s their place! They built it!” said Cardinal Krajewski.

In 1656, when sculptor and architect Gian Lorenzo Bernini was entrusted with the construction of the now-famous colonnade, Rome was dramatically affected by the epidemic of plague, and it was difficult to find construction workers. Pope Alexander VII decided to gather homeless people living around the Vatican to help build what is today considered a baroque masterpiece.

“The pope gave them the job, he gave them the salary and brought back dignity,” the cardinal said of Pope Alexander VII. “Now I thank God the homeless people of today could dine here because this is where they live; under the colonnade, it’s their place.”

The cooks were also special — staff of the biggest television channel in Italy — RAI. They served the homeless with their children.

“The children were beautifully dressed; they walked every homeless person to a white table where the meal was served to them like in an exclusive restaurant,” Cardinal Krajewski said.

The poor were invited with printed invitations on dark red paper, with Christmas decorative drawings, saying: “With the blessing of Pope Francis, the Apostolic Almonery and St. Peter’s Parish, on the occasion of the inauguration of the Nativity scene and the lighting of the Christmas tree, which are the signs of the feast for the birth of Jesus, are pleased to invite you to dinner on Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023.”

“May we all welcome Jesus with a heart full of joy and humanity!” the invitation said.

Answering criticism that the architectural masterpiece is “damaged” by homeless people sleeping under the colonnade on a daily basis, and now dining there as well, Cardinal Krajewski said that they are the “ornament” of the colonnade and the heart of it.

“At the end of the dinner, in which chicken was served, topped with an ice cream dessert, everyone left with a gift — a thermos, elegant scarf and a bar of chocolate,” the cardinal said, emphasizing that Christmas is the time of giving.