Pope names soup kitchen for John Paul II
Thu Jan 4th. Yahoo News

Pope Benedict XVI visited a soup kitchen Thursday to bless it and dedicate it to his predecessor, 14 years after Pope John Paul II went there to meet with the poor.

Benedict then addressed a few hundred people gathered in a nearby courtyard on a chilly day, saying love and charity bring great joy.

The pontiff also blessed a plaque dedicating the soup kitchen near the Colosseum to John Paul, who visited in 1992 and shared tea with several people, including a Somali man who had been attacked and set ablaze by skinhead youths.

The plaque carried a quote from the speech John Paul gave during his visit: "The suffering man belongs to us all." At the time, John Paul urged people to repudiate racism and xenophobia.

The pontiff brought a large quantity of blankets and warm coats to be distributed by the Catholic charity that runs the soup kitchen, Monsignor Guerino Di Tora, director of the Caritas organization in Rome, told SKY TG24 TV.