Pope Francis is renowned for his heart for the poor, and the Vatican has revealed that it will be offering a private tour to more than 100 homeless people on Thursday.

Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano reported that around 150 homeless people who frequent the area around St Peter's Square, will be shown around the Vatican's museums and Sistine Chapel.

They will enter through the Petrine entrance, usually reserved for prelates and employees, and will visit the grounds of the Vatican City. The Sistine Chapel will be closed to the public during their visit, meaning they get a private showing, and the guests will then eat a dinner hosted by the Office of Papal Charities.

Helping the homeless has been a prominent theme of Francis' papacy. He has had showers installed in St Peter's Square and sleeping bags were delivered to the homeless on his behalf to celebrate the pope's birthday in December.

Archbishop Konrad Krajewski, the papal almoner, is the pope's 'first responder' and responsble for carrying out acts of charity and raising the money to fund them. He was appointed by Francis in 2013.

"The Holy Father told me at the beginning: 'You can sell your desk. You don't need it. You need to get out of the Vatican. Don't wait for people to come ringing. You need to go out and look for the poor,'" Krajewski has said of his duties.

Francis has repeatedly eschewed the usual papal privileges in favour of a simple way of life. During his inauguration Mass, he highlighted the call for all Christians to be close to "the poorest, the weakest, the least important...the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the naked, the sick, those in prison".

"I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security," he wrote in his apostolic exhortation.