What is "emmaus"

Biblical town (Luke xxiv:13), from Aramaic hammat "hot spring."

Emmaus is an international solidarity movement founded in Paris in 1949 by the Catholic priest and Capuchin friar Abbé Pierre to combat poverty and homelessness.

Since 1971 regional and national initiatives have been grouped under a parent organization, Emmaus International, now run by Jean Rousseau, representing 350 groups in 37 countries, offering a range of charitable services.

Emmaus is a secular organisation, but Communities around the world have kept the name because of its symbolism. The biblical story, found in the Gospel of Luke, describes how two men saw the resurrected Jesus at the town of Emmaus, and so regained hope.

The organization's guiding principle can be found in the Universal Manifesto of Emmaus International:

Emmaus ( Greek: Ἐμμαούς, ; ; , ʻImwas) is a town mentioned in the Gospel of Luke from the New Testament. Luke reports that Jesus appeared, after his death and resurrection, before two of his disciples while they were walking on the road to Emmaus.

Its geographical identification is not clear, several locations having been suggested throughout history. We only know that it was connected by a road with Jerusalem; the distance given by Luke varies in different manuscripts and the figure given has been made even more ambiguous by interpretations.

• Emmaus was an ancient town in Judaea.
• Emmaus is the name of a village in Galilea mentioned by Flavius Josephus as the location of hot springs, near the city of Tiberias

Emmaus may also refer to:

• Battle of Emmaus
• Emmaus Bible College (Australia) in Epping, Australia
• Emmaus Bible College (Iowa) in Dubuque, Iowa
• Emmaus (charity), a homeless charity
• Emmaus College (disambiguation), several schools
• Emmaus, Pennsylvania, United States
  • Emmaus High School
• Emmaus, U.S. Virgin Islands, United States
• Plague of Emmaus
• Supper at Emmaus
• Walk to Emmaus, a Methodist adult ministry similar to the Catholic Cursillo