DESCRIPTION OF THE RELIGIOUS SITE
DESCRIPTION Sant'Egidio is a Christian community founded in 1968, following the Second Vatican Council. Over the years it has become a network of communities that, in more than 70 countries around the world, with particular attention to the suburbs, gathers men and women of every age and condition, united by a bond of fraternity in listening to the Gospel and voluntary and free commitment for the poor and for peace.
From the beginning, in fact, the service to the poor and the support for the rights and dignity of the person characterizes, together with prayer and the communication of the Gospel, the life of the community that has built forms of help and friendship to face different situations of poverty. and discomfort (lonely and non self-sufficient elderly, immigrants and homeless people, terminally ill and AIDS patients, children at risk of deviance and marginalization, nomads and disabled people, drug addicts, victims of war, prisoners and death row convicts) .
The Community undertakes:
- in the fight against social exclusion and the promotion of respect for diversity,
- in the mobilization against all forms of oppression, violence, aggression, war, occupation, apartheid,
- in the promotion of Peace as a tool for conflict resolution and as a path based on respect for human rights,
- in promoting interreligious and intercultural dialogue in order to promote the development of a culture of civil coexistence
HISTORICAL RELEVANCE The Community of Sant'Egidio was founded in Rome in 1968 on the initiative of Andrea Riccardi who, in the atmosphere of renewal of the Second Vatican Council, began to gather a group of high school students, as he was himself, to listen and put the Gospel into practice. Within a few years their experience spreads in different student environments and takes the form of activities in favor of the marginalized. In the popular neighborhoods of the Roman suburbs, the work of evangelization begins that leads to the birth of adult communities.
The first of the community services, when it had not yet taken the name of Sant'Egidio, was the popular school for the marginalized children of Roman shantytowns.
Since 1973, the volunteers gather in the church of Sant'Egidio in Trastevere, the first church of the Community, giving way to the custom of community prayer in the evening, which since then accompanies the life of all the communities.
In the second half of the seventies, the association began to take root in other Italian cities and, then in the eighties, to spread in Africa, America and Asia.
INTER-RELIGIOUS RELEVANCE The initiatives proposed by the Community of Sant'Egidio have great inter-religious relevance.
From the World Day of Prayer for Peace in Assisi, convened by John Paul II in 1986 (see the 30th anniversary of the interreligious meeting of Assisi), the Community has gathered the final invitation to promote the reasons for dialogue.
Since then, through a network of friendship between representatives of different faiths and cultures in over 60 countries, the Community has organized a pilgrimage of peace, which has stopped every year in different European and Mediterranean cities.
In 2018 the event, entitled Ponti di Pace was celebrated in Bologna. The mayor of the city emphasized the important function of religions in societies. "Bridges of peace is also an occasion for the growth of dialogue and the encounter between the various cultures and religions that coexist in Bologna. In fact, religion represents a fundamental component of coexistence among peoples. Together, despite the difference in belief, it is reiterated that the use of religion for the purpose of violence is a blasphemy".
In October of the same year, in preparation for the Bologna event, the Community organized a FAITH & theCITY meeting, attended by over 60 young Christians, Jews, Muslims and Buddhists. In a climate marked by antipathy, division and hostility towards the different, the proposal is to listen to others, questioning together on the challenges of present time and the future, to build bridges and not walls.
RELIGIOUS INFLUENCE The Catholic Church has always recognized the important work carried out by the Community of Sant'Egidio.
John Paul II in 1993, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the foundation, invited the community of Sant'Egidio to continue his service.
Pope Francis, understanding the role played by the community on behalf of the poor and peace, appointed the president of the Community of Sant'Egidio, among the members and consultors of the new Pontifical Dicastery for the Laity, the Family and Life.
HOW TO USE WITH THE STUDENTS History workshops on "The war mother of all poverty"
CONNECTION WITH OTHER RELIGIOUS SITES
REFERENCE TO THE GUIDELINE
VIDEOS
LINKS
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Religious life: the “United Nations of Trastevere”
Religious life: the “United Nations of Trastevere”
https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2018/21-september/features/features/religious-life-the-united-nations-of-trastevere
Article by Pat Ashworth that traces the history of the Sant’Egidio Community, from squatting in a convent to opening corridors to Europe.