On Sunday December 7th, Marco Impagliazzo has been reelected as President of the Community of Sant’Egidio.

Professor of contemporary history at the University for Foreigners of Perugia, outgoing president of the Community, Impagliazzo was chosen with a broad consensus of the representatives of the different groups of Sant'Egidio worldwide. The election of this year reflects the growth of the Community, born in Rome in 1968 by Andrea Riccardi and now spread to all continents: the Assembly election, which was held in Rome - in connection, via streaming, with many Italian cities, European, American, African and Asian - was attended by 220 delegates.

The Community of Sant'Egidio, Public International Association of Laity recognized by the Holy See and by several international organizations including the UN and the African Union, is in 73 countries around the world with the active participation of over 60 thousand people and collaboration of thousands of volunteers. Its borders are everywhere, the communication of the Gospel, solidarity with the poor and peace-building, as pointed out by Francis Pope during his visit to the Community on 15 June: "Go ahead on this road: prayer, poor and peace. Walking thus helped to raise compassion in the heart of the company, which is the true revolution. Thanking the assembly that has renewed its mandate, Marco Impagliazzo announced it would continue its own efforts in the direction of the three "p" (prayer, poor, peace) indicated by the Pope and, faced with the knowledge of the Community in the world, gained over the years, said he was "impressed by the breadth of its borders and the major challenges ahead."

It is a commitment that sees today Sant'Egidio at the forefront of major campaigns, such as the one carried out in Europe against all forms of racism and exclusion towards immigrants and the poor, or like that, in Africa and Latin America, against urban violence increasingly widespread. The Community of Sant'Egidio, in different corners of the world, is engaged in raising awareness against the weaker sections of the population: abandoned elderly, disabled,and has a major presence in the prisons to improve the living conditions of held in Europe, in Africa and elsewhere. A network of "Schools of Peace" is concerned, on all continents, to defend the rights of minors, including registration at birth, and from schooling. Among the best known projects, the program "Dream" for the prevention and treatment of AIDS, which assists 260 thousand people in 10 African countries.

Peace-building is a core objective because "war is the mother of all poverty". From this consciousness is born, over the years, the commitment in numerous works of mediation, from the most known, which in 1992 led to peace in Mozambique, many other negotiations in different continents. Among the latest initiatives, the appeal to "#saveAleppo" - launched by Andrea Riccardi and welcomed by major international personalities and bodies - in favor of a humanitarian corridor to free from the siege, linked to the ongoing civil war, the historic Syrian city, a place of secular cohabitation between Muslims and Christians of different denominations.