During her long visit, the Most Revd Dame Sarah Mullally learnt about the Community’s commitment to helping the most vulnerable people in Italy and in the world. She also visited some refugee families before heading to Sant’Egidio to meet the Community’s leaders.
During her pilgrimage to Rome, the Archbishop of Canterbury visited the Community of Sant’Egidio this morning. The long meeting began at 10 am at the House of Friendship, on the premises of San Gallicano, and gave her the opportunity to learn about the Community’s work in support of the most vulnerable, such as the homeless and families in difficulty. She also met with people responsible for projects in Africa, such as DREAM, dedicated to the treatment of AIDS and other diseases. “You have managed to achieve something unimaginable. Your work is extremely valuable”, she commented.
Immediately afterwards, the Anglican Primate proceeded to Palazzo Leopardi, in Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere, where she spent time with several refugee families from Gaza, Afghanistan and other countries, and visited the classes at the School of Italian Language and Culture for migrants. “This morning,” she said, “I was given the opportunity to meet so many vulnerable people, and it was a humbling experience for me. Each of you has faced incredible difficulties in life. Here, you are offered friendship, but also the chance to start a new chapter in your lives.”
The Archbishop then visited the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere and stopped to pray at the chapel dedicated to Blessed Floribert Bwana Chui, the young Congolese man from the Community who was killed for opposing an attempt at corruption. Finally, she went to Sant’Egidio for a meeting with the Community’s leaders and a lunch in her honour.
At the end of her visit, which lasted over four hours, Archbishop Sarah said: ‘Sometimes people ask me, as head of a Church, where I see hope, and today, in Sant’Egidio’s work for the most vulnerable, I have seen hope. I am also honoured to have seen the Hall of Peace at Sant’Egidio, where the Community succeeded in bringing an end to the war in Mozambique. It is crucial to know there are people committed to creating and recreating spaces of hospitality – a table around which those who are in conflict can come together. We are profoundly grateful for this.”
“In recent times,” commented the president of Sant’Egidio, Marco Impagliazzo, “there has been a great deal of common ground on issues of peace between Catholics and Anglicans, particularly in Africa where the Anglican Communion has a fairly strong presence alongside the Catholic Church—a bond that has been strengthened since Pope Leo XII’s visit to Africa. There is also an ecumenism of charity, namely a great unity rooted in friendship with the poorest and most vulnerable, even in our Western societies: a vocation to welcome, support and show solidarity.”