The tradition of solidarity with the poor is high on the agenda here in Rome, also
thanks to the good will and to the good work of the Sant Egidio Community, a movement
of laypeople dedicated to evangelisation and charity.
St. Egidio runs one
of the city’s largest soup kitchens, a much needed service for so many people, Italian
and non, who don’t even know where their next meal is coming from….
Food is
one of the most serious poverty problems, and it is a paradox, that interests the
European cities too. More and more we see people searching into rubbish bins looking
for food.
And as the St. Egidio community observes on its website “providing
food for the hungry is a very old value, which has spread to other cultures, because
it has a direct link to the value of life. The scandal of hunger is a decisive fact
for the Christian consciousness as from the Gospel parable of the rich man, who banquets
lavishly while the poor Lazarus stays at the door. The same value of providing food
is rooted in the Jewish and in the Islamic culture and it is connected to hospitality. But
the hungry people represent a question to the consciousness of everybody, believers
and humanists: we cannot put off till tomorrow who are in vital need, and thus cannot
wait. This is the heart of the culture of the solidarity”.
Of course who comes
to eat would like to find not only satisfaction to his or her hunger, but also what
often is denied: sympathy, respect and human warmth.
And so, “At St. Egidio
the attention to dignity and to personality of everybody is expressed in the care
of the environment, in the courteous attitude of the volunteers serving to the tables.
A particular attention is paid to the meal: the eating habits of the guests are considered,
with respect to their religious tradition. For example, in consideration of the presence
of Muslims, pork or wine are never served”.
The service is done entirely by
volunteers, like Benedictine Abbott Timothy Wright who freely offers his free time
in order to help as he tells Vatican Radio’s Linda Bordoni….