Pope Francis Pays Rent For Disabled People’s Private Beach

Pope Francis is paying an entire year's worth of rent for a private beach to help handicapped people enjoy the sea and sun. Charity group Work of Love, who is responsible for managing the program, rented a small portion of a beach in Rome called Little Madonna and built ramps, boardwalks and other transportation vehicles designed to accommodate disabled and handicapped people. It has been open since 2012.

Papal almoner Monseigneur Konrad Krajewski told CNN that Pope Francis donated an undisclosed sum enough to cover a year's worth of rent to "support the project that helps disabled youth and in particular to cover the cost of the annual rent for the beach known as the Little Madonna." Meanwhile, Work of Love expressed their excitement on their website over the donation Pope Francis has made. The charity program includes medical assistant volunteers and helpers from the Paralympic Swimming Federation to oversee the safety of beachgoers.

Pope Francis has also made donations to charities in the past, including treating homeless people to day-trips at the beach. This time, Pope Francis is paying for annual rent on Little Madonna, which the charity group calls a "beach without architectural or mental barriers". It is flocked by hundreds of disabled people annually, according to the priest in charge of the group Rev. Massimo Consolaro.

Pope Francis is scheduled to fly to Cairo this week, telling Egyptian people he is coming as a "messenger of peace". Francis says he prays that his pilgrimage to the country will be "an embrace of consolation of encouragement to all Christians in the Middle East" in a video message released by the Vatican on Tuesday. The Pope's trip comes after recent bombings of Coptic Christian churches in Egypt killed 44 people. He departs for Cairo on Friday and will return on Saturday.