During his visit to Mozambique, Andrea Riccardi stopped at the town of Beira.
His first stop was at Dom Jaime Gonçalves’ tomb, the late Archbishop of that town, who passed away in 2016. Andrea Riccardi was tied to him by a long- time friendship and Dom Jaime, along with Matteo Zuppi, played the role of mediator in the peace negotiation which ended the civil war in Mozambique exactly thirty years ago.
Then, Andrea Riccardi visited some of the 53 new houses built and donated to the elderly who were homeless after the hurricane Idai (March 2019). Some of the members of the movement Youth for Peace were present: they have built the houses and now keep on visiting the elderly who live there. For the latter the help received from the Community was not only in the shape of a shelter but – as one of them, Helena, said – «the new home made me become a new person». With the elderly, the children of the School of Peace, who live in the same area, were partying. In the afternoon a meeting took place.
Five hundred people attended, coming from Beira and the Communities of Sofala, Manica, and Tete Provinces. «Being Community of Sant’Egidio is a gift for the poor – said Andrea Riccardi –. The brothers and sisters of the Community are like angels who console in darkness; help in distress; sustain in fear; feed in starvation».
