On Thursday, February the 9th, the Basilica of St. John Lateran hosted an extraordinary Eucharistic Celebration presided over by Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, the President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference. 

The Sant’Egidio Community, born just after the Second Vatican Council in a high school in Rome, has grown into a global network of communities operating in more than 70 nations worldwide. The community’s main focus is to volunteer and serve those in the peripheries with particular attention to the poor and disadvantaged, aiming for peace and unity. 

This year, the celebration is a tribute to the community’s unwavering commitment and the people it serves amidst growing suffering. With the pandemic, the economic consequences tied to the war in Ukraine, and the recent devastating and dramatic earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria, the Sant’Egidio Community has been a “Noah’s Ark” providing listening, protection, company, light, warmth, and hope for those in need. 

In his homily, Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi acknowledged the community’s efforts to seek solutions amidst many floods, and he emphasized the importance of being peacemakers, conserving a human heart, and choosing to be lambs even when the world becomes a wolf. The community’s history has been centered on a free and constant commitment to the most vulnerable, and it continues to address new questions arising from economic crises, wars, and environmental issues. 

Join us in celebrating the Sant’Egidio Community’s 55th Anniversary by watching this incredible Eucharistic Celebration and remembering the love, care, and hope that the community has shared with the world.