[Congressional Bills 109th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 775 Introduced in House (IH)]







109th CONGRESS
  2d Session
H. RES. 775

Commending the Community of Sant'Egidio for their extensive charity and 
         generosity on behalf of the poor throughout the world.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 25, 2006

Mr. Burton of Indiana (for himself, Mr. Bartlett of Maryland, Mr. Meeks 
of New York, and Mr. Lantos) submitted the following resolution; which 
        was referred to the Committee on International Relations

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
Commending the Community of Sant'Egidio for their extensive charity and 
         generosity on behalf of the poor throughout the world.

Whereas the Community of Sant'Egidio began in Rome in 1968, following the Second 
        Vatican Council, at the initiative of high school student Andrea 
        Riccardi who gathered a group of like-minded high-school students to 
        engage people in their community with a message of peace and dialogue;
Whereas, upon its founding, the group began working in crowded slums on the 
        outskirts of Rome, beginning an afternoon school for children called 
        Scuola Popolare, now known as Schools of Peace, which has since grown to 
        over 50,000 permanent members in 70 countries and on four continents;
Whereas the Community Sant'Egidio has spread itself throughout the world and has 
        assisted additional people, including the physically and mentally 
        disabled, homeless, foreign immigrants, and terminally ill, and has 
        worked in prisons, homes for the elderly, gypsy, and refugee camps;
Whereas the Community Sant'Egidio helped to mediate the conflicting parties in 
        the peace negotiations which led to the peace agreement in Mozambique, 
        and it has taken part in peace and disarmament negotiations in Burundi, 
        the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, and Sudan, and has 
        coordinated humanitarian relief for refugees worldwide;
Whereas Pope John Paul II recognized the Community of Sant'Egidio in a message 
        to the 2002 Prayer for Peace, saying ``I would like to thank especially 
        the Community of Sant'Egidio for the enthusiasm and the spiritual 
        courage shown in accepting the message of Assisi and bringing it to so 
        many places in the world through the meeting of men of different 
        religions''; and
Whereas the Community Sant'Egidio has received numerous awards for international 
        service, including the Niwano Peace Prize, the UNESCO Felix Houphouet-
        Boigny Peace Prize, and the International Montessori Prize``Education 
        and Peace'': Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) commends the Community of Sant'Egidio for their 
        extensive charity and generosity on behalf of the poor 
        throughout the world;
            (2) honors the Community of Sant'Egidio for promoting, 
        negotiating, and brokering peace throughout the world, but 
        especially in Africa;
            (3) pays tribute to the Community of Sant'Egidio for 
        providing aid to refugees of war and natural disasters around 
        the world;
            (4) applauds the Community of Sant'Egidio for promoting 
        respect and mutual understanding among the different religions 
        of the world; and
            (5) thanks the Community of Sant'Egidio for providing the 
        international forum of the 2006 Prayer for Peace, thereby 
        assisting in the resolution of conflicts in a peaceful manner.
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