Based in Rome at Santa Maria Basilica in Trastevere and named after the church where they were founded, the community of Sant’Egidio was the topic and focus of the recent ‘Conversations at the Center,’ in Brighton. As a canonically recognized Catholic lay movement in the Church, the community, whose pillars are prayer, friendship and service to the poor, is also a dynamic humanitarian effort in the world today.
(Recently Fr. Marcelo Marciel returned from his first visit to Madagascar, one of the regions assigned to his care.)
I could have never imagined that my first trip as assistant general would be to Madagascar. I guess God wanted it that way and I am happy that he did. I was happy to share in the life of the Vice-province and spend time working with the Vice-provincial Council. Living with members of Vice-province day in and day out, I felt like a brother among brothers. I am grateful to everyone and, in a special way, to Fr. Michel and all those who made this visit so special.
A former military officer, Pierre had been stationed as a military observer in Lebanon, and then in a similar position in Jerusalem for the U.N. So it was that the Duchon family lived in Jerusalem some 20 years ago; the parents wanted to return because St. Peter’s had become a second family to them.
They say that "to sing is to pray twice" and that is what has inspired a 35 year old tradition at the Assumptionist shrine of Lourdes in Santiago. On Saturday, February 4, 1977, more than 35 singers came to sing at the feet of the Virgin.
They came from small towns from Valparaiso to Curicó. They had been invited to this well-known shrine to mark its 70th anniversary. "There were two women and a young man, Arnoldo Madariaga, who planted the seeds of a tradition that would last to this day," recalled Br. Ramón Gutiérrez, A.A., one of the organizers of the 1977 event.
