Homeless woman who gave birth near the Vatican is offered a home

A Romanian woman who has been living on the streets has been offered a year's worth of free room and board in a Vatican-owned apartment.

The 35-year-old gave birth on a cardboard box just a few meters away from the Vatican. She reportedly went into labor at 2:30 am.

The Associated Press reports that an Italian policewoman named Maria Capone noticed the woman going into labor in the cold. She, along with other police officers, acted immediately and helped deliver the baby.

Due to near-freezing temperatures, police officers had to use all of their coats to keep the mother and the baby warm until emergency medical rescue arrived.

“When I got close I saw that the baby was already born and was still attached by the umbilical cord to the mother,” Police officer Capone told the Associated Press. “With my colleagues we tried to warm them up. We covered them with our uniform jackets.”

One of the police officers shared that it was so cold that the newborn only regained color on his face after they wrapped him in their warm coats.

The head of Pope Francis’ charity office, Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, then visited the new mom in the hospital and offered her an apartment with year’s rent absolutely free.

As of this writing, the woman still hasn’t decided whether she will take the offer.

The Christian Post reports that the woman has visited Vatican facilities with her partner to seek help.

Aside from the new home, the Vatican has helped her during her pregnancy.

Pope Francis’ Fight Against Poverty

The pontiff has been actively helping impoverished people all over the world. He has repeatedly visited homeless shelters in many countries.

Just recently, he paid a surprise visit to the Gift of Mercy homeless shelter just outside of Rome.

When he visited the United States, he also addressed their rising problems in lack of housing and poverty.

In a recent speech to members of Congress, Pope Francis urged lawmakers to be more committed in helping the needy.

The pontiff said,”Each son or daughter of a given country has a mission, a personal and social responsibility. A political society endures when it seeks, as a vocation, to satisfy common needs by stimulating the growth of all its members, especially those in situations of greater vulnerability or risk. Legislative activity is always based on care for the people. To this you have been invited, called and convened by those who elected you.”

READ: 8 Parenting lessons we learned from Pope Francis

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Bianchi Mendoza

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