On June 26th, Pope Francis received Andrea Riccardi in audience.
Among the topics of the conversation with the founder of the Community of Sant'Egidio. The main focus was on the protection of the elderly in our societies, the fight against "selective health care" and a new system that focuses on home care and assistance, also in light of the very high and unacceptable number of victims among the elderly in Covid-19 institutions in Italy and Europe.
Riccardi recently promoted an international appeal "Without the elderly there is no future", which has already collected thousands of signatures.
Strong concern was also expressed during the audience for the areas of the world where war continues, even in this time of pandemic. This is also the case for the refugee and detention camps where migrants are suffering particularly at the moment. They are, in fact, deprived of concrete support, starting with food.
For these camps, it seems urgent to implement humanitarian corridors, a model of reception and integration, which the Community, with the Evangelical Churches and later the CEI, has activated since 2016, and which today are considered a best practice at international level for the relief and integration of migrants.
