On 7 February 2024, the Community of Sant'Egidio celebrates its 56th anniversary. Just as we prepare for the celebration in Rome and in the world, we would like to take a look at the past year, full of many important moments.
We have selected just a few of them. 6 moments, 6 shots to remind us that the path ahead is always the one that Saint Pope John Paul II indicated to the Community: to set "no limit other than that of charity, which knows no limits".
"I also greet with affection those of you who have already passed through humanitarian corridors and are now living a new life. You have shown a firm resolve to live in freedom from fear and insecurity. You have found friends and supporters who are now a second family for you." read more
The second anniversary of this terrible and painful war is approaching. As the humanitarian emergency becomes more serious every day, the Communities of Sant'Egidio continue their commitment to support the lives of those suffering the dramatic consequences.
Since 2016, the humanitarian corridors have brought about 7000 people to safety from countries at war: SIria, Afghanistan, Horn of Africa. Welcoming and integrating migrants is a priority commitment of the Community of Sant'Egidio, in Europe and in the world.
Since 1986, the Community has kept the 'spirit of Assisi' alive by promoting meeting and dialogue of world religions for peace. Every year, men and women of different faiths meet in a European city to join their voices for peace. A 'pilgrimage' involving an increasing number of people from every generation, together with personalities from the world of culture and religions.
he years marked by the pandemic have revealed the precarious living conditions of so many: people - mostly elderly and migrants - and families unable to meet the basic needs of life: food, housing, health care. The Community increased efforts of its aid centres in those years, to meet many needs in a coordinated and unified manner. Thus the 'Friendship Houses' were created: after the first one, in Trastevere, dozens have sprung up in the outskirts of Rome and in the cities where the Community is present.
“When you give a dinner or a banquet, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your kinsmen or rich neighbours, lest they also invite you in return, and you be repaid. But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the aimed, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, because they cannot repay you.”
The Christmas Lunch with the poor is a tradition of the Community of Sant’Egidio since 1982, when a small group of needy people was welcomed at the banquet table in the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Learn more
