Pope Francis pays surprise visit to shanty town in Rome

The Pope made an impromptu stop in the Tiburtina area on the outskirts of Rome on Sunday, Catholic Herald informs.

Pope Francis surprised residents of a shanty town on the outskirts of Rome by paying them a visit yesterday.

The Pope made an impromptu stop in the Tiburtina area, according to Reuters, and was greeted by a number of the town’s inhabitants, many of whom are from South America.

The Pope spoke to them in Spanish, asking how many of them spoke the same language as him.

Fr Aristide Sana, the local parish priest, reportedly said that a number of those who greeted the Pope are from Peru and Ecuador.

“He got out of the car and people were shocked when they saw him in front of their shacks,” added Fr Sana.

According to Fr Sana, people from Russia, Eritrea, Ukraine and Poland also live in the shanty town, which is inhabited by about 150 people. He greeted Ukrainians with traditional "Glory to Jesus Christ" in Ukrainian and asked them to pray for him.