In the Shadow of St. Peter's Basilica.

Rome — In the U.S., and especially in Los Angeles with more than 75,000 unhoused, we often frame homelessness as a uniquely American problem. But walking the streets of Rome these past few days has reminded me it is truly a global reality. My first view of unhoused people in the Eternal City was under the great Bernini colonnade surrounding St. Peter’s Square — the very heart of the Catholic world.

Here, services are offered: showers, food, medical care, even barbers. In fact, supporting the unhoused was a principal activity of the papal almoner during Pope Francis’ time — a quiet but powerful ministry of mercy that made St. Peter’s not just a center of faith, but also a place of care.

Later, I stopped to sit with a man who called himself Dario, a native Roman with a university education. He told me he lost his only job about 18 months ago — the same job he had held since finishing school. Losing it hit him hard. He wasn’t happy to be homeless, but he said he preferred living free to being dependent on benefits. In the warmer months he gets by on the generosity of strangers.

Dario’s story is not unlike those I hear back home. Different country, same struggle, same dignity. Homelessness isn’t just America’s problem — it’s a human problem, stretching across borders, languages, and cities.