Two weeks ago, Father Andrea Conocchia was approached by a trans sex worker in his Blessed Virgin of the Immaculate Church. He gave her food and basic supplies from Catholic charity Caritas when she asked for help.
In total around 20 trans women, mostly from Latin America, turned up at Conocchia’s church looking for vital supplies. The majority of the women are sex workers who were left without vital funds to pay for rent and food during the pandemic.
But Father Conocchia was unable to offer enough financial support to help the women weather this storm — so, he sent a message to Pope Francis asking for assistance.
The Pope gave the go-ahead for papal almoner Cardinal Konrad Krajewski, the administrator of the papacy’s charitable work, to send money to the community of trans women last week.
The women sent an audio message to Krajewski to be played for Pope Francis in which they expressed their gratitude to him.