Supporting the Pilgrimages to Lourdes Sanctuary of 24 Sick Children Treated at the Bambino Gesù Hospital
Related projects
- Support to Projects by the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (Mother project)
- Support to the San Giovanni Battista Hospital
- Support to 250 Families of the Centre Nando Peretti Roma Sud (formerly Laurentino 38) Housing Estate of Rome
- Assistance to Needy Families in the Garbatella Neighborhood of Rome
- Construction Works for a Girls Secondary Boarding School
- Supporting a Leprosy and Rehabilitation Centre
- Support to the House for Children
- Purchase of a Computer With a Specialized Software for the “August Mozer Centre” for Children Suffering of Nervous System Disturbances in Varna, Bulgaria
- Assisting the Needy Families of the Roman Suburb San Basilio
- Purchase of Equipment, Expansion of Services and Support for Shipping Expenses for a Mission Eye Clinic in Remote Sierra Leone, West Africa
- Two Minibuses for Needy People in Bulgaria
- Support the Pilgrimages to Lourdes Sanctuary of 10 Sick Children Treated at the Bambin Gesù Hospital, and/or Assisted by the “Centri di Assistenza” of the Delegation of Rome
- The Aikido Special Program: a course for "at risk" and disadvantaged children
- Sicily Canal as the Gateway to Europe: First Medical Aid to Refugees in the Mediterranean
- Basic Healthcare Services and Social Activities for Older People in Amman, Jordan
- Renovation of the ACISMOM Day Care Centre for Homeless People in Rome, Italy
Project location: Italy, Rome
Project start date: October 2010 -
Project end date: October 2011
Project number: 2010-46
Beneficiary: Gran Priorato di Roma
From March (Palm Sunday) to October, the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes is the goal of mass pilgrimages from Europe and other parts of the world. The project goal is to organize a trip to the Lourdes Sanctuary for sick children who are treated in the Bambino Gesù Hospital of Rome. Specifically, the Pilgrimage Office of SMOM received a grant from the Nando Peretti Foundation for transportation and assistance to Lourdes Sanctuary of 24 sick or handicapped children and 24 accompanying mothers plus 3 special assistants needed. Travel and local accommodation will be free of charge for all of them. During the travel are foreseen spiritual and entertainment activities and full time assistance by expert personnel, 24 hours a day.
Children, parents and medical staff will travel to the Lourdes Sanctuary by train. The volunteer members of the Order of Malta with recreational activities and moments of prayer will animate the travel. The volunteer staff is often composed of young girls and boys. Once arrived in Lourdes, children and parents will be accompanied to the hotels. During the next days they will go all together to the Sanctuary. The fourth day they will come back to Italy.
The experience of the pilgrimage to the Lourdes Sanctuary is a source of benefit for the sick children and their families for different aspects. It is not only a precious occasion of spiritual meditation: the trip offers the possibility to spend happy days, putting for a while a distance between oneself and the pain caused by the illness.
