SW News: On his 86th birthday on Saturday, December 17, Pope Francis spent time with the Missionaries of Charity nuns to honor three humanitarian workers who take care of the downtrodden with the Mother Teresa Award.

Italian businessman and philanthropist Silvano Pedrollo from Verona, Fr Hanna Jallouf from Syria and homeless Italian Gian Piero were the three who received the award from the Holy Father. Pedrollo is an entrepreneur who sets apart a considerable portion of his profits to provide assistance to the poorest of the poor in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Franciscan friar Jallouf serves the underprivileged and war-ravaged people of Syria and never left their side during the heights of the civil war. Piero on the other hand is a homeless tramp who sets apart a portion of the donations he gets to help those who are poorer than him.

The award comprises a globe that is inside a cube symbolizing the love that sustains everything on this planet. On the globe is painted a window behind which Mother Teresa can be seen caressing a child. The award was sponsored by the Vatican Dicastery for the Service of Charity. Addressing award winners, the pontiff said, “Thank you for this visit so full of affection and full of messages: the message of poverty, the message of closeness, the message of fraternity, the message of prayer, which is the legacy of Mother Teresa always gave us.”.

He remembered Mother Teresa as a “courageous woman who went through real spiritual storms with the darkness inside, but continued to pray". He prayed to the saint to help everyone from Heaven to leave poverty with simplicity and prayer.

During the ceremony, there were about 20 sisters and 20 people invited by the nuns.