SANT’EGIDIO, 55 YEARS OF COMMUNITY: PRAYER, THE POOR, PEACE

On Thursday 9 February, celebration in the Lateran Basilica with the people of the Community, presided over by the president of the Italian Episcopal Conference, Cardinal Matteo Zuppi.

On Thursday 9 February, at 18.30, it will be a celebration in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran for the people of the Sant’Egidio Community, commemorating 55 years since its founding with a ceremony presided over the Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, president of the Italian Episcopal Conference. The Basilica will welcome people of every age and social condition, together with the friends of the Community, who in recent months have experienced increasing suffering, first due to the pandemic, then the consequences, also economic of the war in Ukraine. Indeed, the memory of that, as of so many other ongoing wars in the world, will not be forgotten during this anniversary, also painfully marked by the recent earthquake that struck Syria and Turkey. Under the banner of solidarity, prayer and commitment to peace.

Of the people who will participate in the liturgy, many are homeless, elderly, people with disabilities, immigrants now integrated in our country and refugees who have come via humanitarian corridors. There will also be Ukrainian refugees. A people who have made the freely-given commitment to the most vulnerable a constant in their history, and who responsibly question the new questions that arise from a world torn apart by the economic crisis, multiple wars and the environmental question.

The liturgy will be followed by a celebration with all the participants.

The celebration in Rome is only the first of many, to take place in the more than 70 countries where the Sant'Egidio Community is present, from Europe to Africa, from Asia to America.

The celebration in Saint John Lateran will be livestreamed on the Sant’Egidio website and Facebook page, as well as on the Telepace and Padre Pio TV channels. Journalists, photographers and cameramen who wish to cover the event at Saint John Lateran in person (arriving no later than 17.30) are requested to send, by Wednesday 8 February, an application for accreditation to com@santegidio.org, indicating the media outlet they represent and their role (journalist, photographer, radio-tv operator) and attaching a copy of their professional document, so as to be able to communicate the names to the Holy See Press Office, responsible for accredited media workers in the Basilica of Saint John Lateran.

Rome, 7 February 2023

Piazza di S. Egidio 3a – 00153 Rome - Tel 39.06585661 - Fax 39.065883625 www.santegidio.org Email – com@santegidio.org