Community of Sant'Egidio

Community of Sant'Egidio

Comunità di Sant'Egidio
Named after	Saint Giles
Formation	1968; 56 years ago (1968)
Founder	Andrea Riccardi
Founded at	Virgil High School, Rome
Type	International association of the faithful of pontifical right; NGO
Purpose	Care for the needy; arbitrate conflicts
Headquarters	Sant'Egidio, Rome
Location	73 countries
Region	Europe, Africa, America, Asia
Membership	Worldwide
President	Marco Impagliazzo
Parent organization	Catholic Church
Volunteers	50,000 (estimate)
Website	santegidio.org

The Community of Sant'Egidio (Italian: Comunità di Sant'Egidio) is a lay Catholic association dedicated to social service, founded in 1968 under the leadership of Andrea Riccardi. The group grew and in 1973 was given a home at the former Carmelite monastery and church of Sant'Egidio in Rome, Italy. In 1986, it received recognition from the Roman Curia of the Holy See as an international association of the faithful. Its activities include the Church's evening prayer together daily as a stimulus for lending assistance to a whole spectrum of needy persons: "lonely and non-self-sufficient elderly, immigrants and homeless people, terminally ill and HIV/AIDS patients, children at risk of deviance and marginalization, nomads and the physically and mentally handicapped, drug addicts, victims of war, and prisoners."^[1] The community also has a high profile in the area of peace negotiations, in addressing the AIDS epidemic in Africa, and in its opposition to capital punishment. It takes an ecumenical approach in all of its work.

Sant'Egidio is a network of small communities of fraternal life, currently present in 73 countries distributed as follows: Europe (23), Africa (29), Asia (7), North America (8),^[2] South America (5). There are an estimated 50,000 members.^[1]