The Catholic University of St. Anthony in Murcia (www.ucam.edu) is holding the international Days of Charity and Volunteer Service until 5 March with the aim of “promoting mutual understanding between peoples and raising their awareness especially through friendship”, explains Iván Vargas Papadopoulos, director of communication of the Catholic University of St. Anthony, in describing the project to SirEurope. Charity as the source of volunteer service is at the centre of this project, linked with a recently established centre within the university, the John Paul II International Institute of Charity and Volunteer Service. “We wish to claim ‘charity’ as the source of every action of solidarity”, explained Father Antonio Alcaraz López, organizer and director of the institute. “Solidarity and development are terms that imply self-giving, and this genuine sense is found in charity”, says don Antonio. “Charity, therefore, is a gift that everyone can make, nor is it exclusive to Christianity”. The Days in Murcia began with a series of conferences and are continuing with an exhibition on volunteer service and various round tables. On 5 March the Holy See’s Nuncio in Spain, Archbishop Manuel Monteiro de Castro, and numerous diplomats will be present at the close of the project “Getting to Know other Countries” in which the students of 45 schools and 42 university classes have participated. On the conclusion of the event, an enormous international banner with the word “peace” in all the main languages will be unfurled over the university, while the university students who are studying in Italy with the Erasmus programme will take a light to Assisi as symbol of peace and brotherhood.
