dozens of homeless people have been treated to a private viewing of the sistine chapel, complete with a surprise appearance by pope francis himself, in the pontiff's latest gesture towards the most vulnerable people in society normally one of the hottest tourist tickets in town, the home of michelangelo's celebrated ceiling frescoes closed its doors early to regular visitors to enable the group of around 150 street sleepers to be shown around the chapel and adjoining vatican museums and gardens in an unannounced visit, it was the pope himself who welcomed the group to the sistine chapel, taking the time to greet each of the visitors special guests: 150 homeless people pose for photographs in the sistine chapel yesterday in pope francis' latest gesture towards the most vulnerable people in society  honour: a nun leads 150 homeless people through the sistine chapel on their private guided tour  eating: after the private guide tour of the sistine chapel, the homeless people were treated to a dinner  private: in an unannounced visit, it was the pope himself who welcomed the group to the sistine chapel, taking the time to greet each of the visitors he requested that no pictures were taken of him doing so  'this is a house for everyone, this is your home the doors are always open to all,' the argentinian pope told them 'pray for me, i need the prayers of people like you,' he added the pontiff had asked that there be no pictures of the meeting it was the latest in a string of highly symbolic initiatives sanctioned by francis, who has made a focus on the plight of the homeless and other marginalised groups one of the defining themes of his papacy last month a homeless man who died on the streets around st peter's square was buried in an exclusive cemetery within the vatican that is usually reserved for senior german clerics the pope, who says he wants 'a poor church, for the poor,' has also had showers for the homeless installed in public toilets just off st peter's square on their way: 150 homeless people are seen arriving at the sistine chapel for their guided tour and free dinner pope francis himself made a surprise appearance at the event, greeting each guest individually  the guided tour is the latest in a string of highly symbolic initiatives sanctioned by francis, who has made a focus on the plight of the homeless and other marginalised groups one of the defining themes of his papacy  not a publicity stunt: pope francis requested that no photographs were taken of him taking the time to meet and greet all 150 of the homeless people as he didn't want  the gesture to be used for publicity  gesture: last month a homeless man who died on the streets around st peter's square was buried in an exclusive cemetery within the vatican that is usually reserved for senior german clerics  giving: the pope, who says he wants 'a poor church, for the poor,' has also had showers for the homeless installed in public toilets just off st peter's square the families of hostages david haines and alan henning who were murdered by the islamic extremist jihadi john have been blessed by the pope aid worker david haines, of yorkshire, was beheaded last september after being captured by islamic state alan henning, 47, a father of two, was killed in the same way a month later on wednesday, pope francis met the families of the two men at a service aimed at uniting religions and ending extremism widow barbara henning was brought up to meet the pope on the steps of st peter's basilica in rome usually such access is reserved for visiting prelates michael haines, brother of david haines, was also able to meet the pope at the ceremony to mark his 78th birthday in december, pope francis ordered the distribution of sleeping bags across rome and some homeless people have been recruited to hand out copies of the gospels to the faithful attending sunday audiences at st peter's this morning it emerged that francis will become the first pontiff to address the us congress after accepting an invitation to visit the white house us president barack obama will host the pope on september 23, after extending an invitation during talks at the vatican last year the white house said the president and the pope will continue a dialogue about poverty, the environment, immigration and promoting religious freedom 'the president looks forward to continuing this conversation with the holy father during his first visit to the united states as pope,' a statement said
the sistine chapel francis st peter's last month vatican
dozens of homeless people were given a guided tour of the sistine chapel . group were shown around the chapel and gardens and given a free dinner . pope francis even made a surprise appearance   speaking to each member of the group and saying the chapel's doors are 'always open' to them . pontiff has had showers installed for the homeless in st peter's square . last month he also arranged for a homeless man to be buried in an exclusive cemetery within the vatican 