When you're the Pope, you have the power to effect great change. Obviously Pope Francis knows this, evidenced by the name-day party he threw for himself, during which he invited the poverty-stricken of Rome to... eat ice cream. And luckily they got a sweet little journalist to moon over the gesture in a post as sticky and drippy as the gelato that today melted on the fingers of Rome's poor:
And with temperatures in Rome finally starting to warm up, Francis decided to cool things down for Monday's feast, asking the papal almoner's office to provide the gelato to the poor and needy served by Catholic charitable organization, Caritas.
However, the pope himself is also known to be a gelato lover, his favorite flavor being dolce de leche, according to the Vatican cookbook. An Argentine classic, dolce de leche is essentially the Latin American version of caramel, but richer.
Thanks to caramel-loving Francis of the Grand Gestures, Rome's struggling classes have been able to do other white-trash things, too. Remember the pizza party, and the circus? Apparently the noble poor of Rome have no problem being blatantly patronized in a city-wide, papal version of "presidents kissing babies".
They went to bed (on park benches and in homeless shelters) this week, still unclear as to whether or not Hell actually exists, but with the comfort of knowing that while nothing in their lives actually changed for the better, the Vatican got to promote its embattled frontman by handing out ice cream treats that someone else paid for.
Symbolism over substance...it works every time. Well played, Mr. Greg Burke!