Pope Francis has paid a surprise visit to a community helping 20 young women get their lives back together after being rescued from prostitution.
Continuing his Year of Mercy practice of dedicating one Friday a month to meet people facing special struggles, the Pope visited the house operated by the John XXIII Community in northeast Rome.
The community members, the Vatican said, were "20 women liberated from the slavery of the prostitution racket. Six of them come from Romania, four from Albania, seven from Nigeria and one each from Tunisia, Italy and Ukraine."
