Prisoners escape during lunch meeting with Pope in Bologna

Two prisoners have reportedly escaped during a lunch meeting with Pope Francis at the Basilica of San Petronio in Bologna, Italy earlier this month.

The lunch meeting, which took place during the pope's visit to the historic city on Oct. 1, was attended by 20 inmates from a prison near Modena. The two inmates, who were housed at the Castelfranco Emilia, made their escape just before lasagna was served at the event. Volunteers immediately alerted the police after realizing that the inmates have left.

The authorities have asked for the public's cooperation in apprehending the two fugitives, who have not resurfaced since their escape.

According to Deutsche Welle, the social reintegration facility that housed the fugitives hosts drug addicts and those who are a danger to public safety and require supervision. It is unclear which group the fugitives belong to.

Francis had long been an advocate for prisoner rehabilitation into society, and he had washed the feet of inmates at a prison near Rome earlier this year.

On April 13, the pope celebrated the Holy Thursday Mass of the Lord's Supper at a penitentiary in Paliano, which houses 70 men and women who testified as a witness for the state against associates or accomplices.

The pope washed the feet of 12 inmates, including three women and a man who is converting from Islam to Catholicism.

Among those who participated in the foot washing ceremony were two inmates who were sentenced to life imprisonment. All the others would be finishing their sentences between 2019 and 2073, the Vatican noted.

A report from Vatican Radio indicated that several other inmates took an active role in the liturgy, including four who served as altar servers. Other inmates prepared gifts for the pontiff, including two dessert cakes, a handcrafted wooden cross and fresh vegetables grown in the prison garden.

During his trip to Bologna earlier this month, the pontiff visited a refugee center on the outskirts of the city simply known as "The Hub." The refugee center, which is run by a charity, houses about 1,000 asylum seekers, most of whom risked their lives crossing the Mediterranean from Africa and the Middle East.

According to Metro US, many of the refugees and migrants do not have documents and all of them wear a plastic yellow bracelet. The pope reportedly wore one bearing his name and the number 3900003 on his right wrist.

"Many who don't know you are afraid of you. That makes them think they have the right to judge (you) coldly and harshly," he told the refugees.

The pontiff paid homage to those who "never arrived because they were eaten up by the desert or the sea."