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 Sant'Egidio in Rome, Italy. In 1986 it received recognition from the Roman Curia of the Holy See as an international association of the faithful. 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." The community also has a high profile in the area of peace negotiations, in addressing the AIDS epidemic in Africa, and in its opposition to capital punishment. It takes an ecumenical approach in all of its work. Sant'Egidio is a network of small communities of fraternal life, currently present in 73 countries distributed as follows: Europe (23), Africa (29), Asia (7), North America (8), South America (5). There are an estimated 50,000 members. History 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, and founded the Christian community of the Acts of the Apostles and Francis of Assisi. The students took to teaching poor children who lived in shacks in the Roman periphery. Then the Popular School was formed, now called the School of Peace and present in many countries of the world. 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. From 1977 the Community of Sant'Egidio expanded to other Italian cities and in the 1980s it spread to Europe, Africa, America, and Asia. On 18 May 1986, the Pontifical Council for the Laity named the Community of Sant'Egidio as "an international association of the faithful of pontifical right". In the Community of the nineties, the Country of the Rainbow was born, a movement for children and young people to learn respect for others and for nature. It can lead to lifetime commitment in the Community. Also, the 1989 murder of a South African refugee was the stimulus for the People of Peace initiative directed