Its activities include the Church's evening prayer together daily as a stimulus for lending assistance to a whole spectrum of needy persons: "lonely and non-self-sufficient elderly, immigrants and homeless people, terminally ill and HIV/AIDS patients, children at risk of deviance and marginalization, nomads and the physically and mentally handicapped, drug addicts, victims of war, and prisoners.

[1] In 1968, just after the Second Vatican Council, Andrea Riccardi while still a teenager drew together a group of students at Virgil High School in Rome,[4][5] and founded the Christian community of the Acts of the Apostles and Francis of Assisi.

[6][7] In 1973 the group acquired its present headquarters at the former Carmelite convent and church of Sant'Egidio (Italian for Saint Giles) in Trastevere in Rome.

[8] Also, the 1989 murder of a South African refugee was the stimulus for the People of Peace initiative directed primarily toward migrants but including the poor and elderly in some of its programs.

[10] In October of the same year he raised to the Cardinalate Archbishop Matteo Zuppi of Bologna, a key member of the community in peace negotiations during the Mozambican Civil War.

[22][13] The Community's effectiveness in working with people has been attributed to its "spirit of compromise and encounter", which has been compared to that of Pope Francis who has raised its profile during his pontificate.

"[28] Sant'Egidio has been described as a realization of Pope Francis' dream for the church to be "a field hospital" with Catholics "like shepherds living with the smell of their sheep".

[28] The priority objective is prevention, fighting the negative effects of critical events (like heat waves, flu epidemics, falls, loss of cohabitant).

[40] The book lists places where service is offered for the estimated 7,500 people living on the streets or in makeshift shacks of Rome, including everything from 47 overnight shelters to the 11 language schools for migrants run by Sant'Egidio itself.

[49] The Friends movement is a Community-sponsored restaurant that supports the DREAM program for AIDS sufferers in Africa by selling disabled peoples' paintings[50] from the Community's own workshop.

[5][56][57][58] The Washington Post has described Sant'Egidio as "one of the most influential conflict resolution groups in the world,"[59] and this is borne out by the accolades it has received from a wide range of leaders.

[76] There is a strong element of ecumenism and dialogue at these "annual meetings ... [that] bring together Muslims, Catholics, Jews, Christians of all faiths, humanists, non-believers.

[84] DREAM takes a holistic approach, combining highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART) with the treatment of malnutrition, tuberculosis, malaria, and sexually transmitted diseases, while emphasizing health education at all levels.

[90] In 2004 Sant'Egidio received the Balzan Prize for humanity, peace and brotherhood among peoples, "and in particular for the realization of its DREAM program to fight AIDS and malnutrition that is taking place in Mozambique, a concrete model for others African countries in difficulty.

"[91] In August 2020, the Community of Sant'Egidio in collaboration with the charity Children Do Matter started the construction of The Green Lotus, an orphanage and shelter for homeless young girls in Blantyre, Malawi.

[94][95] Mario Marazziti, a member of the Community and of the lower house of parliament in Italy, head of its Human Rights Committee,[20] published an English-language book entitled 13 Ways of Looking at the Death Penalty.

[97][98][99] It also shows its commitment against the death penalty by furnishing pen pals for many death-row convicts and by collecting signatures for a moratorium on executions.

[100] In 2003 the Italian journalist Sandro Magister wrote that working groups within Sant'Egidio, along with the poor, can displace the birth family for some Community members (Mt 10:35).