Thousands of homeless people from all over the world are in Rome this weekend to hear Pope Francis plead for forgiveness for Christians who turn their backs on their plight.

They will walk the "Way of the Cross" tomorrow and on Sunday, the Pope will celebrate a special Mass for the homeless in St Peter's.

The events come at the end of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, during which the Pope has emphasised the duty of Christians to hold out a helping hand to those who are poor and on the margins.

At an audience this morning with 4,000 homeless or formerly homeless people from 22 countries, described as people in "precarious situations", the Pope asked them to forgive Christians who had turned away from helping them and "looked the other way". 

Catholic Herald reports that the Pope stood silently with his head bowed as his homeless guests placed hands on his shoulders or held his cassock. 

The weekend's events have been put together by Fratello, an association working to realise the Pope's vision of the Church as for the poor.

François Le Forestier, the organiser, said: "For each of these pilgrims, especially for who have been homeless or who are homeless, traveling to Rome was a kind of achievement because they are full of fear, and it's huge for them. So they want to respond to the Pope."

She told  Rome Reports: "I'm friends with many, many people who live on the streets, I'm not able to share my house with them, but I share time with them. And slowly, slowly we became friends... Those people do not only need food or health care and housing, they also need, maybe it's the most important, they need friendship, they need to not be alone."

Carlo Santoro, of the Community of Sant'Egidio, said: "It's worth pondering, 'What would happen to me if I were in their shoes? If I did not have a house, a bathroom, a bed tonight? If I had to sleep on the street, what would I do?' It translates into very concrete things: it means sleeping with one eye open and one eye closed, thinking that others could steal everything from you, that you do not have a bathroom, that you cannot trust anyone."

This Vatican TV report shows the Pope's special audience for homeless people earlier today. 

The pilgrims include 600 homeless people from Germany, according to DW, which reports the story of Dieter Ahlers, aged 64, who has been homeless for about 30 years. He said: "I am not sure if change still happens at my age. I am looking forward to Rome, to seeing the city and to a whole new perspective."

Pia-Mareike Heyne of Caritas, in charge of the Hamburg pilgrims, told DW that some pilgrims had in the end been too frightened to go.

She said: "People are still canceling because they are worried. One woman, for example, is concerned that she is messy, that she smells. Her travel companion, who will share a room with her, pointed out that everyone making the trip received a hand sewn toiletry bag and that they could shower after each other every morning."

The event comes as Christian, Jewish and other faiths worldwide throw open the doors of churches, temples and other buildings to help homeless people off the streets during the winter.

In London alone, 13 churches and a synagogue have come together to form the Westminster Churches Night Shelter, one of 90 similar schemes in the UK helping rough sleepers to survive through the cold weather.