Every year the Daughters of St. Paul of Portugal participate in the Lisbon Book Fair and every year they invite a special “guest of honor” to their stand. This year their special “guest” was Pope Francis, represented by a picture of the Holy Father smiling on the balcony of the Apostolic Palace. The life-sized picture was positioned alongside the FSP stand.
As a follow-up to their recent publication of the book Little Letters to Pope Francis–messages which children had written to the Pope and which our sisters translated into Portuguese under the title Querido Papa Francesco–all the children who visited their stand were invited to write similar letters to the Holy Father and to place them in a special “mailbox” near his picture.
Helped by their parents, the children enthusiastically participated in this endeavor, which served to create a festive climate of communication in and around the stand. The 104 letters that were written for the occasion will now be mailed to the Pope in Vatican City.