HONG KONG (SE): “The Covid-19 pandemic has changed our way of serving people. We have more chance to reach out from our parish,” said Father Franco Bellati, assistant parish priest of St. John the Baptist parish, Kwun Tong, and spiritual advisor of its social concern group, who recently visited the homeless people at Kwun Tong Ferry Pier.
In mid-January, the social concern group went to visit the homeless twice under the continuous cold whether and sent them hot soup and clothes.
Father Bellati said that, besides giving them food, it is important to listen to their stories so that they can feel the concern of others.
“The homeless find it easier to talk to me as they are curious about foreigners,” he said.
He sometimes talks to them until midnight and they asked them to go home.
“At that time I thought I still have a room to sleep in, but I cannot help these people even though I know they want a place to live,” he told the Kung Kao Po.
Father Bellati said he visited the homeless at Kwun Tong Ferry Pier through the help of the parishioners of Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish, Wan Chai, and then he met some Protestant groups paying visits as well. The experiences reminded him that Christians have to be united to give better service.
Father Bellati also visited the McRefugees, the homeless people who normally stay overnight in fastfood chain outlets, before the nighttime dine in ban came into force in March last year, to learn about their struggles for the future planning of the services of the social concern group.
