Sant'Egidio is a convent church in

Trastevere Trastevere () is the 13th of Rome, Italy. It is identified by the initials R. XIII and it is located within Municipio I. Its name comes from Latin (). Its coat of arms depicts a golden head of a lion on a red background, the meaning of which i ...

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. Sant'Egidio ( St. Giles) is the patron saint of

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Chr ...

s. The church was founded in 1630 and was abandoned by the nuns in 1971. In 1973, it was occupied by the

Community of Sant'Egidio The Community of Sant'Egidio () is a lay Catholic association dedicated to social service, founded in 1968 under the leadership of Andrea Riccardi. The group grew and in 1973 was given a home at the former Carmelite monastery and church of ...

, which had been founded in 1968, and was still looking for a meeting place of its own. The community, which had not had a name before, then chose to name itself after its church. Together with the adjacent former

Carmelite The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

monastery, the church forms the seat of the

. It has been the titular church of Cardinal Matteo Zuppi since 5 October 2019.

Notes and references

* Pierre Anouilh, "Des pauvres a la paix. Aspects de l'action pacificatrice de Sant'Egidio au Mozambique", _LFM. Sciences sociales et mmissions_, No.17, Dec. 2005, pp. 11–40 * Eric Morier-Genoud, "Sant’ Egidio et la paix. Interviews de Don Matteo Zuppi & Ricardo Cannelli", _LFM. Sciences sociales et mmissions_, Oct 2003, pp. 119–145

External links

The Community of Sant'Egidio homepage

DREAM (Drug Resource Enhancement against AIDS and malnutrition) programm - The Community of Sant'Egidio

{{DEFAULTSORT:Egidio, Santo, Rome 17th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in Italy Egidio Churches of Rome (rione Trastevere)