To the Rev. Brendan Fitzgerald, it seems that both religious and lay efforts to support homeless people can neglect a “hidden suffering” – a lack of connection to others.
That vital but often forgotten need — what Fitzgerald calls “relational ministry” — is the message he and 19 other Catholic leaders from across the United States hope to take to Pope Leo XIV, as they head to Rome this weekend as the Vatican gears up for the 10th World Day of the Poor on Sunday.
“Social services are just as important and vital. We need to try to provide housing and food and shelter and job training and drug rehabilitation,” Fitzgerald said Friday ahead of his eight-hour flight to Italy. “But the human relationship can get lost, and that’s the gift we’re trying to give.”…