Marge Owerko says the basement of her home in Calgary, Alberta, often looks like “a war zone,” stacked with supplies for people in need more than 5,000 miles away.
For the past 40 years, she has shipped care packages and provided moral support to seminarians and struggling families in Ukraine.
She and her husband, Stanley Owerko, both philanthropists and members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, were conferred CNEWA’s Faith & Culture Award at an Ottawa gala on 7 November, marking the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Canadian office of Catholic Near East Welfare Association.
Church leaders and lay faithful from across Canada gathered for the event at St. Elias Banquet Hall, where the Owerkos were recognized for their witness to the Gospel and commitment to supporting the mission of the church, as well as numerous civil society organizations.
Mr. Owerko was the founder and C.E.O. of Petrogas Energy Corp., and he and his wife have donated tens of millions of dollars to health care, education, and humanitarian and religious causes in Canada and abroad.
In his remarks, Mr. Owerko recounted a story that captures the positive impact of doing acts of kindness for others, one person at a time.
“Essentially, that’s what Christ was doing. He had 12 apostles. He sent them out to spread the word. And to embrace other people in the world, and he was trying to save people one soul at a time,” he said.
“Today we live in a very complicated world, it seems it’s become more complicated over time, but we can’t lose our focus in this regard,” he continued.
“We still have to have that mission to help one person at a time, for all those children who are suffering in the war in Ukraine and Gaza,” he said. “And so, it’s important for all of us through CNEWA and other organizations to put our shoulders to the wheel to give the help that we can.”
“Just remember,” Mrs. Owerko added, “you don’t have to give big things. Just simple things and prayer. Prayer is still the best gift.”
Adriana Bara, national director of CNEWA in Canada, said the establishment of the Canadian office enabled “the faithful of our country to participate directly in this worldwide work of compassion and hope.”
“Every gift becomes a bridge of love, uniting East and West,” she said. “When we support a displaced family in Gaza, a school in Lebanon, or a hospital in Ukraine, we encounter not only human need, but also the radiant power of hope. You, our dear friends of CNEWA, are part of this hope.
“Through your generosity, light rises from wounds; through your compassion, faith and hope are rekindled,” she said. “I thank you from the depth of my heart for your trust, your generosity, and your enduring friendship.”
Archbishop Marcel Damphousse of Ottawa, chair of the board of CNEWA in Canada, led the prayer before the meal, giving thanks for “these 20 special years” of CNEWA in Canada “and all the wonderful work they do for a church in need, for communities at large and churches that go through hardships that are way beyond our imagining.”
Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič, apostolic nuncio to Canada, read a letter from the Vatican secretary of state, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, in which he expressed gratitude for CNEWA’s work and mission.
“The Holy Father thanks you for your generosity to those who are suffering discourages of war, violence, and poverty,” Cardinal Parolin wrote. “He likewise trusts that you persevere in assisting those who facing the loss of their homeland and spiritual heritage.
“Seek to preserve the treasures of their traditions in order that they may continue to enrich the life of the entire body of Christ.”
The evening featured a video of Good Shepherd Sister Marie-Claude Naddaf in Beirut, who was invited to the gala as the guest of honor but could not attend due to ill health, and three testimonies of CNEWA’s work in the Middle East and in Ukraine.
Michel Constantin, CNEWA’s regional director for Lebanon, Syria, Egypt and Iraq, traveled from Beirut to report on CNEWA’s work. In Lebanon, the papal agency provides basic necessities to those internally displaced by war, as well as ongoing support to those suffering due to a confluence of factors — COVID-19, an economic crash and the 2020 blast at the Beirut port — that led to the collapse of social services, including health care and education.
He spoke about the tense situation in Syria as that country tries to get its footing after 14 years of civil war, a deadly earthquake and the ouster of former president Bashar al-Assad. He spoke of the ongoing need to rebuild and to establish peace, security and reconciliation in Iraq in the aftermath of ISIS, as well as in Egypt, where Christian churches have suffered a wave of attacks and hyperinflation has driven thousands into poverty. Stark images that accompanied his presentation showed how once-beautiful cities in these countries were devastated by violence and terrorism.
“Each county has a different situation and different sociopolitical challenges, but the result is the same: poverty and massive immigration,” he said. “Whoever can leave is leaving.”
In these countries, he said, CNEWA continues to support health care, education, pastoral work, catechesis, formation for church leadership and community development.
“The core mission of CNEWA is to accompany the people. We have been in the Middle East and Lebanon for the last 75 years,” said Mr. Constantin, who has worked for CNEWA for 36 years. “We do not just go with tons of food packages and leave them. No. We go and we stay with the people.”
Joseph Hazboun traveled to Ottawa from East Jerusalem, where he works as regional director for Palestine and Israel. He spoke of the importance of “investing in human capital,” in particular by preparing youth for leadership in the Holy Land through the Scouting movement, university scholarships, job training and employment opportunities.
“The commitment that we invested, especially in Gaza, paid off in 2023,” he said, with 16 institutions and centers serving the community prior to Israel’s war on Gaza.
He described the devastation in Gaza from Israel’s war on the Palestinian territory, as well as the Israeli government’s ongoing settlement expansion plans in the West Bank and its impact on the livelihood of Palestinians.
“Another heartbreaking problem that we’re facing — and we’ve been facing — is immigration,” he said.
He spoke of the dwindling Christian presence in the Holy Land and of efforts to provide support for Christians who choose to stay. Despite his best efforts, and to his chagrin, his eldest daughter immigrated with her husband to Spain.
Anastasiia Hryniuk, who is based in Ottawa and works as CNEWA’s program officer for Ukraine, said CNEWA issued more than $10 million in emergency aid to Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, providing shelter, food, medical and rehabilitative care, power generators and psychosocial and pastoral support.
Growing up in a military family, Ms. Hryniuk said she “learned that service is not about recognition, that service is about responsibility. It’s about standing up for those who cannot protect themselves. It’s about choosing love over fear. And in Ukraine today we see a lot of examples of this kind of service.”
She underlined the resilience of the church in Ukraine in “preserving life, faith and dignity.”
“Since the start of the war, 67 religious leaders and 600 religious [men and women] were killed, and 600 religious buildings were destroyed. Yet even amid all the devastation, faith is not silenced,” she said. “The church continues to serve … even in the smallest villages that are affected by war.”
Msgr. Peter I. Vaccari, CNEWA president, attended the gala. In his remarks, he underlined that CNEWA always collaborates with the local church in the various regions where it works. Having listened to Mr. Hazboun and Mr. Constantin, he said “the sense of one CNEWA family is something that has certainly been reinforced for me tonight.”