Joined by local diocesan officials, Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the prefect of the Dicastery for the Service of Charity, opened a “Laundry of St. Francis of Assisi” yesterday in Parma, Italy, to allow homeless persons there to wash and dry their clothes in a free facility.
Begun in 2017 in Rome, the initiative has since spread to Genoa, Turin, Naples, Catania, San Ferdinando, and now Parma with the assistance of Procter & Gamble. The dicastery noted that the initiative was originally called the “Laundries of Pope Francis,” but has recently been renamed after the beloved saint of Assisi.