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Pope visits Paris charities built on equality
As Pope Francis heads to Paris, solidarity groups show how real change happens through horizontal relationships, not top-down charity.
In brief
As Pope Francis heads to Paris, solidarity groups show how real change happens through horizontal relationships, not top-down charity. True solidarity means standing as equals with people in need, offering your time and presence rather than just material goods. Originally reported by Vaticannews.
Pope heads to Paris solidarity hub
Pope Francis will visit the Maison Bakhita Center for Social Support and Integration in Paris, where representatives from major charitable groups will meet him.
Solidarity flows horizontally in Paris
Parisian charities reject top-down charity, instead building equal relationships where homeless people and young volunteers sit together as equals, sharing the same precariousness.
“You must remain small.”
Philosophical cafes for the excluded
Meeting spaces called cafes bring together homeless people and women to discuss philosophy and express themselves freely, without judgment or hierarchy.
Aux captifs la liberation serves 70,000
Founded in 1981 by Father Patrick Giros, this association recorded over 70,000 encounters in 2025 with homeless people and those in prostitution, nearly 4,500 known by name.
Volunteers approach empty-handed
Volunteers conduct nighttime patrols without material goods, offering only their time and hearts. This reverses the dynamic, making people in need feel they have something to give back.
“our time and our hearts.”
Fighting online prostitution networks
The group recognized that internet-based prostitution is less visible than street poverty but equally urgent. They reach out to women and girls online, helping them escape exploitation.
Lazare houses homeless with young workers
Lazare's model places about eight people in shared apartments, mixing formerly homeless residents with young working people. The approach has expanded to Spain, Belgium, Switzerland, and Mexico over 15 years.
Relationships matter more than hierarchy
Lazare's model centers on equal relationships between people from different backgrounds, avoiding the hierarchical dynamic of specialist-client interactions.
“a relationship that is not hierarchical in the slightest”
Church must stand with the poor
The charities emphasize that the Church's role is not to perform charity from above, but to be present with marginalized people and build society together with them as equals.
“We are not called primarily to reach out to the poorest to perform acts of charity”
Here's the gist
True solidarity means standing as equals with people in need, offering your time and presence rather than just material goods.
