Some call it an example of informal or “subsidiary” diplomacy, others an additional (albeit informal) section of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, but European, Italian and Holy See officials on Thursday all agreed that the Community of Sant’Egidio is peacemaking done right.
The diplomacy of this “new movement” of the Catholic Church emphasizes “the evolution of the entire process of making peace,” said British Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican’s Secretary for Relations with States, during a conference on the 7thMarch.
The highly-attended event took place in Rome and was centered around the presentation of “Making Peace: the diplomacy of Sant’Egidio,” a collection of essays detailing the various fields of expertise and intervention of the community in the past 50 years.
The book, the archbishop said, tells a story of “faith, perseverance and resistance” where “sometimes you have to shake hands with the devil in an effort to make peace.”
Article by Claire Giangravè - Faith and Culture Correspondent for CRUX.
