25/05/2008

SANT�EGIDIO IN SOUTH AFRICA: THE REALISATION OF A DREAM AND A PRAYER

The late Archbishop Denis Hurley had a dream that one day the Community of Sant�Egidio would find a place in South Africa. His friendship with the Community and his visits to Rome and to the Community in particular were well-known and also well-publicised.His friendship with the Community started more than 20 years prior to his death. During his many visits to Rome he regularly attended the evening prayer of the Community and even on occasion led the prayer. It is maybe then not surprising that in the week before his death he was again visiting the Community in Rome and that his funeral was attended by a delegation of the Community who delivered a tribute to him.

The Community of Sant�Egidio dates back to 1968. It was born in the aftermath of the Second Vatican Council when a group of students led by the then 18 year old Andrea Riccardi decided to get together to pray and to meet the poor on the outskirts of Rome. These were turbulent times in Europe marked by students� revolts. Andrea and his friends were looking for their own kind of revolution by means of the Gospel. A revolution that starts by changing oneself prior to turning a society around. From these humble beginnings the Community has expanded to a world-wide organisation with a presence on all continents and numbering almost 70 000 members world-wide had recognised by the Pontifical Council for the Laity as a Church public lay association. The role of the laity within the Church has become very pronounced in the wake of the Second Council. In this sense to be a member of the Community of Sant�Egidio means to be an ordinary person who in a life as a layperson follows the teachings of the Gospel. It means that no-one pays to participate in the life of the Community, everyone has a family, brothers and sisters and work The work done in service of the Gospel is done freely and voluntarily.

The Community has its own unique spirituality characterised at its foundation by prayer, both individual and collective, and the spreading of the Gospel. Prayer forms the basis of the Community�s work in all the different spheres in which it operates. The common prayer takes place in all communities world-wide. In the �mother� Community that gathers in Santa Maria in Trastevere, as well as in some of the larger Communities in other centres, such as Wurzburg in Germany, the prayer is held every evening. Different prayers exist for different days of the week and these prayers are also adapted in accordance with specific times of the year. The prayer is sung and is accompanied by a short reading and a message delivered by one of the members. The smaller groups meet weekly or monthly.

The Community works in various ways to spread the Gospel. Most important is the solidarity with the poor, prisoners, aged and the homeless. Soup kitchens and �Schools of Peace� for children are run to assist the poor. In Rome this assistance has been given an infrastructure by means of a little booklet entitled �Dove� (Where). This booklet contains a map of Rome and provides poor and destitute people with information on where they can eat, wash, sleep, etcetera. The service to the poor is marked globally by the Christmas dinner. In 2007 about 70 000 people worldwide were welcomed to the Christmas lunches held in 450 cities worldwide, also in South Africa.

The Community furthermore aims at promoting justice by engaging in a global campaign to have the death penalty abolished. In this regard its �Cities for Life� project has lead to almost 700 cities worldwide signing the appeal for a global moratorium on the death penalty and this work in turn has been instrumental in getting the United Nations to adopt a moratorium on the death penalty.

Ecumenism and interreligious dialogue are also important facets of the Community�s work. Every year an international gathering of religious leaders is held to promote peace and to further dialogue between the different religions. This endeavour not only promotes the �Spirit of Assisi� where pope John Paul II held the first encounter of this kind; it is also in line with the spirit of the Second Vatican Council as expressed in the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, Nostra Aetate, as well as decrees passed by the Council regarding ecumenism.

The Community has also been playing an important role in promoting peace globally, the most important event in this regard being the facilitation of the Mozambique Peace Accord of 1992.

The inner structure of the Community is extremely unique. It is based for the most on friendship and trust. Apart from certain basic structures and the fact that the Community has a president, it is for the most completely devoid of burocracy. This in turn emphasises the communal nature of the group where everyone works for and with the group. Despite the seeming lack of organisation everything works! Everyone has a role and the work gets done modestly and without public acclaim, because in the end the goal is not self-aggrandisement of individuals but the promotion of the Gospel pure and simple.

The Community in so many ways emanates the spirit of Vatican II and in this regard it spoke a common language with Archbishop Hurley. However, this was not the only common denominator - Archbishop Hurley was totally ad idem with the Community�s work for the poor and the stance they take regarding human rights, having himself been at the forefront of the struggle against Apartheid in South Africa. It was no wonder that he had always hoped for this group with its peculiar spirituality to gain a foothold in South Africa.

In 2007 four small groups were established in South Africa in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Polokwane and Port Elizabeth. These groups started as a direct result of Archbishop Hurley�s involvement with the Community. One of the friends of the community in Rome who attended the Archbishop�s funeral came to South Africa and spoke to two groups of students in Pretoria and Johannesburg respectively. These groups started having the weekly prayer in accordance with the tradition of the Sant�Egidio evening prayer and also started Schools of Peace among the underprivileged children. By the end of 2007 there were two more groups, one in Polokwane and one in Port Elizabeth. The Schools of Peace that were founded focussed on helping poor children such as orphans and street children by befriending them, playing with them and helping them with their homework.

In accordance with the Sant�Egidio tradition the South African groups all hosted Christmas lunches and parties for children at the end of 2007. Almost 250 children in total were hosted on these occasions and once again the idea was not merely to feed the children but to give them a sense of friendship and belonging.

It is hoped that more groups will be established in our Rainbow Nation in the future and that the spirit of the Community will be spread in a country which has to a large extent become marked by self-love, greed and violence. In this way we can help a new generation of children to grow up in peace and without violence and so we can (re)discover the true meaning of ubuntu, which, although African in origin, accords totally with the Gospel of Jesus.

Archbishop Hurley dreamed about the Community of Sant�Egidio in South Africa and we hope that he will remain an inspiration and a guiding light for us in the future as we live the Gospel and in this way give effect to the dream that he had for many years.

More information about the Community of Sant�Egidio in South Africa can be obtained at [email protected]. Information about the Community worldwide may be obtained from the website www.santegidio.org .

Andr� Mukheibir