Bujumbura, Burundi

Madrid, Spain

Munich, Germany - A gift for everyone ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio towards Christmas. 
Even in an institution for the elderly, everything is done so that no poor person is alone and without a thought for him or her on Christmas day. 

Under the tree there will be a gift, companionship and friendship.

Parma, Italy - "We wait in hope for the Lord; he is our help and our shield" (Ps 33)

The Community of Sant'Egidio and prayer. 

Kiev, Ukraine - A flea market to make possible the feast of the humble ones and the poor ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio towards Christmas. 

Messina, Italy - How to make a comic ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the Schools of Peace. 

Mexico City, Mexico - At the circus, waiting for Christmas ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the Schools of Peace. 

Moscow, Russia - 100 years: a celebration to live together ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the poor.

An important birthday, in a retirement house: the opportunity is too tempting not to celebrate it together .... 

Rome, Italy - "Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad; let the sea resound [...]. Rejoice before the Lord, for he comes" (Ps 96)

The Community of Sant'Egidio and prayer. 

Bogotà, Colombia - The nativity scene is being prepared, the Child is expected to come ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the Schools of Peace. 

Barcelona, Spain - 'Play it again': good for everyone ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and peace.
The 'Ri-giocattolo' (Re-toy) is the sale of used toys organized by the Schools of Peace in Europe every year, on the occasion of Christmas.
The initiative has an ecological value: children learn that reuse of toys reduces pollution. And an educational one: it makes they (and not only) experience solidarity. 

Income from the sales actually support the care of children suffering from AIDS as part of the DREAM program.

Antwerp, Belgium - An unexpected friend ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the poor.

In many northern European countries, Santa Claus is still St. Nicholas.

Here visiting (surprisingly) the elderly invited for a snack at "Amici [Friends], coffee and books", run by the disabled friends of Sant'Egidio in the big city on the Scheldt. 

Rome, Italy - A home and a family with those who are without ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the poor.
A dinner with the friends of the Villetta della Misericordia - the house ("of Mercy") inside the compound of "Gemelli" hospitalewhich hosts more than thirty homeless people -, organized and animated by the students of the "Catholic University": lots of fun and family taste .... 

Paris, France - "The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations" (Ps 98)

The Community of Sant'Egidio and prayer. 

Berlin, Germany - A new way of looking at reality ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the Schools of Peace. 

Rome, Italy - A rediscovered hope ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the outskirts.

Thanks to the Office of Papal Charities and to the Community, 33 asylum seekers who had been stuck for years in the Moria camp, island of Lesbos, found the way leading to a different future. 

Munich, Germany - Remembering, task of each generation ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and peace.

Memory of the deportation of the city's Jews. In order to keep remembering what happened, to build a better world. 

Managua, Nicaragua - There is someone who never leaves you alone ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the outskirts.

It's Advent! The Lord comes to look for us wherever we are, even in the places of abandonment .... 

Havana, Cuba - "For the sake of my family and friends, I will say, 'Peace be within you'" (Ps 122)

The Community of Sant'Egidio and prayer. 

Trieste, Italy - There is no justice if every life is not safeguarded ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and peace.

Tamara Chikunova, witness of the fight against the death penalty, has been talking to young people for years about the injustice of every execution. 

San José, Costa Rica - Homeless Jesus ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the outskirts.
Time of prayer, a moment of freedom and hope for those who live on the street .... 

Rome, Italy - A home, to stop being alone ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the poor.

In Ostia suburb an apartment welcomes some elderly, men and women, who previously lived in a retirement institution and now have a place they can call home. In which to receive old and new friends. In which to look to the future with a greater hope. 

Zogona, Burkina Faso - "I will listen to what God the Lord says; he promises peace to his people, his faithful servants" (Ps 85)

The Community of Sant'Egidio and prayer. 

Puebla, Mexico - The wonder of knowledge ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the Schools of Peace. 

Mexico City, Mexico - Drawing the future ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the Schools of Peace. 

Lecce, Italy - "I will glory in the Lord; let the afflicted hear and rejoice" (Ps 34)

The Community of Sant'Egidio and prayer. 

Naples, Italy - Making bridges, promoting living together ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and peace.

Three students of the School for Cultural Mediators and their last review before the final exam. 

Their future task will be a delicate and precious one: it is right to prepare it well ...

Paris, France - The walls of loneliness fall too ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the outskirts.

Youth Peace songs and dramas at the Gabrielle d'Estrées retirement home in Charenton. 

Kiev, Ukraine - The poor as our friends ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the poor.

"The word of God, however, spurs us to a 'genuine love', to give to those who cannot repay us, to serve others without seeking anything in return. So let us ask ourselves: 'Do I help someone who has nothing to give me in return? Do I, a Christian, have at least one poor person as a friend'? 

The poor are valuable in the eyes of God because they do not speak the language of the self: they do not support themselves on their own, by their own strength; they need someone to take them by the hand. The poor remind us how we should live the Gospel: like beggars reaching out to God. The presence of the poor makes us breathe the fresh air of the Gospel, where the poor in spirit are blessed. Instead of feeling annoyed when they knock on our doors, let us welcome their cry for help as a summons to go out of ourselves, to welcome them with God’s own loving gaze. How beautiful it would be if the poor could occupy in our hearts the place they have in the heart of God! Standing with the poor, serving the poor, we see things as Jesus does; we see what remains and what passes away" (pope Francis, homily at the Mass for the 3rd World Day of the Poor).

Leuven, Belgium - Here is the answer!

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the Schools of Peace. 

Mexico City, Mexico - A sandwich, a meeting opportunity ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the outskirts.

Ready to leave for the delivering of an itinerant dinner to those who live on the street, in the folds of an infinite city .... 

Trieste, Italy - A key to integration ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and peace.

Delivering of diplomas at the School of Italian Language and Culture. Something more than just a paper .... 

Buenos Aires, Argentina - Friendship conquers loneliness in the big city ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the poor.

lanús: an area of the big city, Buenos Aires. Here children and teenagers build bridges of friendship with the elderly. They visit two retirement homes, have made friends with many of the guests, share gossip and celebrations. 

Children, young people, the elderly, all make room for a new culture, according to which none is so small and worthless that can't change the world.

Chojna, Poland - "The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?" (Ps 27)

The Community of Sant'Egidio and prayer. 

Leuven, Belgium - An afternoon that smells of meeting ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the outskirts.

An afternoon different from the usual ones, a beautiful and engaging time, passed by the students of the Institute of the Sacred Heart together with the elders of the Annunziata nursing home. 

Lima, Peru - In a room, all the knowledge of the world ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the School of Peace. 

Antwerp, Belgium - History of a friendship ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and peace.

At the University of Antwerp - organized by Sant'Egidio - an involving and inspiring testimony: the protagonists of the documentary movie "The Imam and the Pastor", James Wuye and Mohammad Ashafa, speak about the friendship born between two Nigerian religious leaders who had considered themselves "against" each other for years, and yet discovered how it is possible to live together and cooperate for peace and growth in a country. 

Moscow, Russia - Poetry has no age, no limitations ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the poor.

Reading Puskin in an institution for the elderly and other people with difficulties: a way to experience youth and lightness of heart. 

Jakarta, Indonesia - "I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living" (Ps 27)

The Community of Sant'Egidio and prayer. 

Catania, Italy - Making friends with Dante's language ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the outskirts.

Studying for a fruitful integration. 

With the cards of "L'italiano per amico" (Italian as a friend), book published by Sant'Egidio and adopted in our Italian Language and Culture Schools. It teaches how to speak and communicate with examples and issues taken from everyday life.

Bujumbura, Burundi - Their health is important to us, as if we were their children ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the poor.

Delivery of medical kits to the nursing house of Sainte-Elisabeth, where about 60 sick elderly people live, because without relatives who can take care of them. 

Antwerp, Belgium - At school differences are good marks ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and Schools of Peace. 

Abuja, Nigeria - "The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. [...] The Lord will rescue his servants" (Ps 34)

The Community of Sant'Egidio and prayer. 

Managua, Nicaragua - Meeting with a writer: the book as a companion for life

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the Schools of Peace. 

Würzburg, Germany - The strength of solidarity, the weakness of every wall ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and peace.

A feast, an opportunity to meet together, among young people and children, youngsters and elderly, youth and migrants, teenagers and people who pass by. 

An opportunity to shout that barriers pass over and solidarity remains, almost 30 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Rome, Italy - A paradise's kitchen ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the outskirts.

"The friends'" (disabled people movement, linked to Sant'Egidio) cooking workshop has just started over again. And today it's up to prepare "gnocchi" pasta! 

Novara, Italy - All united for a hug to the elderly ...

The Community of Sant'Egidio and the poor.

A "Grandparents' Day" in the square, whith the participation of a whole neighborhood: from the pupils of the school 'Bellini' to the "new Italians", from the shopkeepers of the area to the simple passers-by, everyone ideally embraced the older generation. 

Merksem, Belgium - "The Lord will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore" (Ps 121)

The Community of Sant'Egidio and prayer.