Connections to CNEWA’s world

Earthquake Relief in Syria Continues

CNEWA’s humanitarian work in response to the 6 February earthquakes in Syria and Turkey continues.

CNEWA’s Beirut team is working with 10 local partners on the second phase of aid, following our immediate emergency response work, and is developing “sustainable help aiming at stabilizing families,” said Michel Constantin, CNEWA’s regional director for Lebanon, Egypt and Syria.

Churches in the Middle East

Msgr. Peter I. Vaccari, CNEWA president, attended the Symposium of Churches in the Middle East in Nicosia, Cyprus, organized by the Dicastery for Eastern Churches, from 20 to 23 April. The theme, “Rooted in Hope,” centered around “the state of the church in and throughout the Middle East” and welcomed some 250 Eastern church representatives and seven patriarchs, along with lay and religious men and women working with the church in the Middle East.

Archbishop Claudio Gugerotti, prefect of the dicastery, spoke during the first day of the event, emphasizing the importance of “the presence, the heritage, the witness and above all the faith of the Christians of the Middle East” to the universal church, according to Vatican News.

In the first phase, CNEWA joined its partners on the ground in distributing emergency items. The second phase, which has already begun, includes home repairs, rental assistance for families whose homes became uninhabitable, basic furniture, psychosocial support programs, basic medication and long-term food packages.

To learn more, see Page 6. To support these relief efforts, go to: cnewa.org/work/emergency-syria.

While in Cyprus, Msgr. Vaccari visited St. Joseph School and a program for victims of human trafficking.

News From CNEWA in Canada

Adriana Bara, national director for CNEWA in Canada, participated at a meeting of the national French Christian-Jewish Dialogue in Canada, run by Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom in Westmount, Quebec, on 24 May. She gave the presentation on “The Different Forms of Christianity” and spoke about the mission of CNEWA. Rabbi Lisa Grushcow presented on “The Different Forms of Judaism.”

The week prior, Dr. Bara participated in the meeting of Canadian Friends of Sabeel and Kairos Palestine in Toronto. Omar Haramy, the director of Friends of Sabeel and the main presenter, “emphasized the importance of the ‘meaningful pilgrimage’ to the Holy Land,” she said. “In his view, people should not only visit churches and buildings in the Holy land but also encounter people to understand their challenges and needs.”

Faith and Culture Award

CNEWA trustee Bishop William F. Murphy, bishop emeritus of Rockville Centre, received CNEWA’s Faith and Culture Award during a 19 April reception in Rome marking the reopening of the Rome office of CNEWA and its operating agency in the Middle East, Pontifical Mission.

“For his many years in service to the people of God as bishop, pastor, teacher and ambassador of peace in the Americas and throughout the world, CNEWA is privileged and honored to give its Faith and Culture Award to Bishop William F. Murphy,” said Msgr. Vaccari. “Always, as his episcopal motto, ‘No Other Name,’ declares, Bishop Murphy has placed Jesus in the center of his life, mission and work.”

CNEWA Out and About

CNEWA is taking its message to wider audiences across the country to promote its mission of supporting the pastoral and humanitarian work of the Eastern churches. Haimdat Sawh, development officer, represents CNEWA at these events, raising awareness and drawing more people into the mission of the agency.

In April, CNEWA was as an exhibitor at the annual convention of the National Catholic Educational Association in Irving, Texas, 11-13 April.

CNEWA was also an exhibitor at the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, the world’s largest gathering of Catholic religious educators, 24-26 February, at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Golf Outing

CNEWA held its first golf outing at the Plandome Country Club in Plandome, New York, on 18 May. The event kicked off with breakfast at 10, followed by golf and tournaments in the afternoon. Twenty teams played the course, enjoying the bright and breezy day, which drew to a close with dinner, a presentation by Msgr. Vaccari, a live auction and a raffle.