The pope works the crowd at a lunch for the homeless (DC Archdiocese/Twitter)

After giving a speech to Congress, Pope Francis ditched the Beltway crowd to attend a lunch for the homeless.

After his historic speech, the Pope headed over to St. Patrick in the City, the oldest Catholic parish in town, addressing parishioners and schoolchildren as well as clients served by Catholic Charities next door, according to NBC Washington. He reportedly turned down invites from Speaker of the House John Boehner and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi for the event (and to bless a sculpture dedicated to homelessness, along the way).

At St. Patrick’s he called for both compassion and charity for the poor, and said in no uncertain terms that there is no excuse for homelessness:

He compared the plight of today’s homeless to Jesus himself, “The son of God came into this world as a homeless person. The son of God knew what it was to start life without a roof over his head.”

The pope then headed next door to the Catholic Charities event where 300 homeless men, women and children were served a menu of chicken, pasta salad, carrots, green beans and brownies. It represented a small portion of the District’s 7,300 homeless residents, but it nonetheless was a high-profile spotlight for one of the city’s most pressing problems. Pope Francis will be traveling to NYC this afternoon where, ironically, the NYPD will be kicking out the homeless to prepare for his arrival.

Pope Francis didn’t dine himself but he did bless the food and work the crowd that eagerly awaited his arrival: