Camilla Jessen
In his final days, Pope Francis gave away the last of his personal money.
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Before his death earlier this week, Pope Francis made a final act of personal charity, donating €200,000 from his private savings to support prisoners in Rome, according to Bishop Benoni Ambarus, head of prison ministry and charitable services in the city.
“He donated €200,000 from his personal account,” Ambarus told Italian media on Wednesday, as reported by EFE and cited by Romanian outlet Digi24.
The funds were directed to a pasta production facility located within the Casal del Marmo juvenile detention center on the outskirts of Rome.
Ambarus said he had spoken to the Pope about the center’s financial struggles, including a significant mortgage on the facility.
“I told him we had a big mortgage on this pasta factory and if we could cover it, we could lower the price of pasta, sell more and hire more guys,” he recalled.
Pope Francis, he said, responded simply:
I’m almost out of money, but I still have some in my account.
The donation is being described as the pontiff’s final personal gesture on behalf of incarcerated individuals—an area that had been a cornerstone of his papacy.
The Pope’s commitment to prison reform and prisoner dignity was evident throughout his more than 12 years in office. Just four days before his death, he visited the Regina Coeli prison in Rome on Holy Thursday, continuing a tradition of direct engagement with detainees.
“He shouted to the world, with all his might, the need to pay attention to the prisoners,” Ambarus said of the visit.
Pope Francis frequently called for reform in prison systems and advocated for the humane treatment of detainees.
In December, he marked the opening of the Catholic Church’s Jubilee Year by symbolically opening one of the Holy Doors at the Rebibbia prison—an act viewed by many as a powerful statement of inclusion for society’s most marginalized.