“In 1968, the Borghetto Latino - which arose in the 1930s in the Via Latina/Parco della Caffarella area on the outskirts of Rome - was a shanty town inhabited largely by the poor, displaced persons and immigrants from the most depressed areas of Italy.  

Kiko and Carmen arrived in Rome in July 1968. After placing their mission under the protection of the Madonna (in Pompeii), they visited some parish priests, together with Don Dino Torregiani - to introduce them to the Way, as it had begun among the poor of Palomeras Altas in Madrid. But no one was interested in welcoming him.

Kiko then felt the Lord's call to start over from the shacks by going to live among the poor of Borghetto Latino, waiting for the Lord to reveal his will to him.

Kiko found accommodation in this degraded area of Rome and there some young people who served there, some from the Parish of the Canadian Martyrs, impressed by his experience, began to frequent him and invite him to their meetings.... And from there the catechesis began and the first community in Italy was born...

The Borghetto Latino was demolished in the early 1980s; only some remains of paving and rudimentary foundations remain inside the large Caffarella Park.

With the help of the first brothers we have identified the places and thought it could be useful for groups of young pilgrims to go and see first-hand where the Neocatechumenal Way has its roots in Italy.

For this reason, some brothers will accompany the groups of pilgrims to visit the places where the huts of Borghetto Latino were located, retracing together the history and the events that occurred, bringing their testimony and leaving - if the latter wish - space for the leaders of the groups to celebrate lauds / vespers in the open air.

There are open and green spaces suitable for meetings, scrutatio and catechesis.

Book your group visit here.”