Prisoners Got 15,000 Gelati From Pope During Rome’s Long, Hot Summer

Licas News ^ | 9/8/21 | Reuters

[marshmallow]

The summer was one of the hottest on record in Italy, with one city in Sicily reporting 49 Celsius in August

They were not “Get out of jail free” cards but they were possibly one of the next best things.

During one of Italy’s hottest summers on record, Pope Francis sent 15,000 ice creams to inmates in Rome’s two prisons, the Vatican said on Tuesday.

A statement from the pope’s charity office said they were sent to the two prisons — the older Regina Coeli jail on the Tiber River in the center and the modern Rebibbia prison in the city’s outskirts.

They were delivered in his name by Polish Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, who is known as “the pope’s almoner” or one who distributes alms to the poor.

Cardinal Krajewski, at 57 one of the youngest cardinals, has also set up medical and bathing facilities for the homeless near the Vatican at Pope Francis’ direction since the pontiff’s election in 2013.

[Fido969]

What is it with these guys and ice cream?

[ConservativeMind]

Because Jesus gave gelato?

[Romulus]

I hope it was halal.

[ebb tide]

However, the pope himself is also known to be a gelato lover, his favorite flavor being dolce de leche, according to the Vatican cookbook. An Argentine classic, dolce de leche is essentially the Latin American version of caramel, but richer.

On St. George's Day at the Vatican, It's Gelato All Around!