SURPRISE! Pope Francis visits a center for street children in Manila

SURPRISE! Pope Francis visits a center for street children in Manila

Instead of returning to his official residence at the Apostolic Nunciature after officiating a mass at the Manila Cathedral, Pope Francis decided to make a 30-minute visit to Tulay ng Kabataan (TNK) Foundation, an organization that helps street children.

The Pope was accompanied by Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle during this quick visit. The center is located in Gen. Luna St., Intramuros, Manila.

The children presented the Argentinian pontiff a brief thanksgiving dance upon his arrival. About 300 kids were at the center when the Pope came.

tulay ng kabataan foundation
Pope Francis made an unannounced visit to the Tulay ng Kabataan Foundation in Intramuros, Manila Friday afternoon (Credits: TNK’s official Facebook page)

This visit is not included in Pope Francis’ publicized list of activities during his five-day stay in the Philippines. Additionally, members of the media were not allowed to cover the event. Vatican Radio was the first to report about this.

The photos used in the event were taken from the Twitter account of Rev. Fr. Antonio Spadaro, SJ and the official Facebook page of TNK.

Last September, the TNK Foundation launched a campaign where it gathered letters from one thousand street kids requesting Pope Francis to visit them.

Cardinal Tagle brought the letters to the Vatican City last October together. He also showed Pope Francis a video presentation featuring some of the street kids who wrote letters for the pontiff.

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Mark Pere Madrona

The Filipino Scribe (TFS) is managed by Mark Pere Madrona, a multi-awarded writer and licensed professional teacher from the Philippines. Mr. Madrona earned his master’s degree in history from the University of the Philippines-Diliman last 2020. He obtained his bachelor’s degree in journalism cum laude from the same university back in 2010. His area of interests includes Philippine journalism, history, and politics as well as social media. Know more about him here: https://www.filipinoscribe.com/about/.

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