The memory of Modesta Valenti, along with that of Calidoso and so many homeless friends who die in anonymity, grows stronger in Bogotà every year. Ten years have passed since the cruel murder of Marco Tulio Sevillano, a homeless man and friend of the Community, known as Calidoso. Since then, the Community of Sant'Egidio in Bogotá celebrates his memory every year with a liturgy that has become more and more important in the city.
This year, the celebration was presided over by the newly-appointed auxiliary bishop Monsignor Edwin Vanegas, in the church of the Immaculate Conception, where the Community of Bogotá meets every Friday to pray. This parish, located in an affluent district of the city, opened its doors for this celebration and showed that there are so many who also wander around this part of the city every day, but who are, so often, invisible.
The celebration was followed by a reception for friends of the Community who received the bishop's affectionate personal greeting, a meal and a gift. Among them were the homeless, the elderly, members of indigenous minorities and many children.
