Pope Francis Has Lunch With Gay, Transgender Prisoners

Pope Francis on Saturday had lunch with prisoners at an Italian prison, some of whom were gay or transgender.

According to Religion News Service, Pope Francis visited the Giuseppe Salvia Detention Center in Poggiorale during a visit to Naples, Italy. Roughly 90 inmates attended the lunch, including ten prisoners from a section of the facility that houses gay, transgender and HIV-positive inmates.

Inmates were chosen by lottery.

Pope Francis reportedly asked to visit the prison, which was not on his original schedule.

“His theme has been mercy,” John Travis, a journalist who has extensively covered the Vatican, told ABC News. “The church needs to show mercy. It needs to reach out to the alienated, the suffering, people who have felt excluded.”