{"id":4662,"date":"2013-06-03T14:35:15","date_gmt":"2013-06-03T14:35:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/2013\/06\/03\/welcome-to-canada-51137\/"},"modified":"2025-04-09T14:21:28","modified_gmt":"2025-04-09T18:21:28","slug":"welcome-to-canada-51137","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/welcome-to-canada-51137\/","title":{"rendered":"Welcome to Canada!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Hayat Shao gives her son Jamil Makhoo, an Iraqi refugee, a hug for the first time in 13 years. (photo: Evan Boudreau\/Catholic Register) <\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a joy it must have been for Cardinal Thomas Collins to welcome to Toronto the Iraqi Christian family he sponsored!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story, from the Catholic Register:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Though it took a few hours longer than expected, six members of the Makhoo family \u2014 Iraqi refugees sponsored by Toronto\u2019s Cardinal Thomas Collins \u2014 finally arrived in Canada on 23 May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was an emotional reunion as members of the clan already settled in Canada were on hand to greet the family they hadn\u2019t seen in years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was very happy,\u201d said Hayat Shao, mother to the Makhoo family\u2019s patriarch, Jamil. \u201cIt was like I owned the whole world when I saw my son coming through the gate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It had been 13 years since the mother and son last embraced before their reunion at Pearson International Airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like any Iraqi refugee story, the Makhoo\u2019s is filled with these kind of heart-wrenching anecdotes amid a tale of suffering, displacement and delays.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Like so many, I was waiting for this moment, too. Thanks to Cardinal Collins \u2014 a director of CNEWA\u2019s governing board in Canada \u2014 for his leadership on this issue. Thanks also to Dr. Martin Mark, who directs the Archdiocese of Toronto\u2019s refugees office, and his team for his diligent efforts to bring so many Iraqi refugees to Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This project has been a great collaboration between CNEWA Canada and the Archdiocese of Toronto, helping to raise awareness of the plight of Iraqi Christians. It certainly highlighted our Catholic Church\u2019s positive role and the many volunteers that put their time and resources to make this happen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To learn how you can help Middle East Christians, visit this link.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Six members of the Makhoo family — Iraqi refugees sponsored by Toronto\u2019s Cardinal Thomas Collins — finally arrived in Canada on 23 May.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":15102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"class_list":["post-4662","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-interest"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWelcome to Canada! | CNEWA Canada<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/welcome-to-canada-51137\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Welcome to Canada!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Six members of the Makhoo family -- Iraqi refugees sponsored by Toronto\u2019s Cardinal Thomas Collins -- finally arrived in Canada on 23 May.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"CNEWA Canada\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cnewacanada\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-06-03T14:35:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-04-09T18:21:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/cnewa.org\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2024\/08\/welcometocanada1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"537\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"537\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carl H\u00e9tu\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@cnewac\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@cnewac\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carl H\u00e9tu\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/welcome-to-canada-51137\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/welcome-to-canada-51137\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Carl H\u00e9tu\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7944644ca6eb0740b984679ea893bd81\"},\"headline\":\"Welcome to Canada!\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-06-03T14:35:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-09T18:21:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/welcome-to-canada-51137\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":306,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/welcome-to-canada-51137\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/welcometocanada1.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"General Interest\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/welcome-to-canada-51137\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/welcome-to-canada-51137\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/welcome-to-canada-51137\\\/\",\"name\":\"Welcome to Canada! | CNEWA Canada\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/welcome-to-canada-51137\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/welcome-to-canada-51137\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/welcometocanada1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-06-03T14:35:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-04-09T18:21:28+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/welcome-to-canada-51137\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/welcome-to-canada-51137\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/welcome-to-canada-51137\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/welcometocanada1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/cnewa.org\\\/ca\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2024\\\/08\\\/welcometocanada1.jpg\",\"width\":537,\"height\":537,\"caption\":\"Hayat Shao gives her son Jamil Makhoo, an Iraqi refugee, a hug for the first time in 13 years. 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