23/04/2008

Sant'Egidio Anniversary

While Pope Benedict celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Community of Sant�Egidio at Rome�s San Bartolomeo basilica, South Africa�s young chapter marked the celebrations with a retreat in Johannesburg.

The Sant�Egidio Community, which had a champion in the late Archbishop Denis Hurley of Durban, has grown from �handful of high school students who, in 1968 started befriending the poor, reading the Gospel and praying together� in Rome to become represented in 70 countries, said South African member Dr Andr� Mukheibir.

The community has made a profound impact even in southern Africa, having been credited with leading the negotiations which ended the long Mozambican civil war, as the country�s president Armando Guebuza acknowledged in a message to the 40th anniversary celebrations.

�Over the past two years the Community has become active South Africa and presently there are groups in Pretoria, Johannesburg, Polokwane and Port Elizabeth. In addition there is also a strong presence of the Community in Lesotho,� said Dr Mukheibir.

Ninety members of the various regions gathered in Johannesburg for a four-day meeting, including a day on retreat.

�During these days the message of friendship with the poor and peace among different people was emphasised,� said Dr Mukheibir, who comes from Port Elizabeth.

�The group represented a pan-African microcosm, because included in the South African groups was a large contingent from other African nations such as Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania and other countries, studying at our universities,� she added.

�One of the threats to modern day society is the threat of materialism, not only in the sense of wealth but also in the context of people acknowledging the tangible, the big, and the powerful. �

�During the day of the retreat we discovered in the Gospels of the Passion of the Lord another way of life founded on the values of love, peace and friendship. The Gospel provides another choice in this century where everyone is taught to strive for wealth and power. Our world has a profound need for this message. South African society, like the rest of the world needs to rediscover compassion, caring and love, � Dr Mukheibir said.

�The Community of Sant�Egidio believes in a concrete way of living the Gospel with its endeavours towards love for the poor and promotion of peace. It is also fitting then that one of the themes of the gathering was the School of Peace, which is a central tenet of the Community�s work,� she said.

Through this, the children �are given choices other than lives of desolation and hopelessness and are taught the essential values contained in the Gospel such as love, peace and co-existence with other people.�

For more information on the Community of Sant�Egidio visit www.santegidio.org. To contact the Community in South Africa, e-mail: [email protected]