THE Christmas Lunch. A family as large as the world.

The book “Christmas Lunch. A family as wide as the world” tells a story that begins on Christmas Day in 1982 when one of the most beautiful basilicas in Rome, Santa Maria in Trastevere, hosts a lunch with the poor.

This meal has become the joyful emergence of many friendships with the poor over the years, with the homeless, lonely people, the elderly, migrants, Roma, disabled people. For Sant’Egidio, they have become friends and not “beneficiaries”, therefore people who should not lack company and support, throughout the year, and even more during the Holidays.

The table has become “wide as the world”, like an icon of human relationships, of solidarity rediscovered, of fraternal communion experienced with the Community of Sant’Egidio in 73 countries around the world. Every year, more than 230 thousand people sit at the table on Christmas Day.

The book is not only a guide to prepare well for this moment and is not just a story of the past. It aims to write a “grammar of love” to widen the table, which means making cities more welcoming for people in need of food, listening, and answers throughout the year.