Msgr. Peter I. Vaccari, president of Catholic Near East Welfare Association-Pontifical Mission, arrived in Jerusalem 2 September on a pastoral visit, accompanied by Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, vice president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and supreme chaplain of the Knights of Columbus; Patrick E. Kelly, supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus; and the Knights’ supreme secretary, John A. Marrella.
The pastoral visit to Jerusalem, the Palestinian West Bank and Israel will include liturgies in Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity and Nazareth’s Church of the Annunciation, and meetings with leaders of the region’s beleaguered Christian community which, despite its near destruction in Gaza, remains a force of good, rushing food, water and medicines to starving families and providing medical attention through its network of maternity clinics and hospitals.
“The Gospel compels us to witness, to stand in solidarity with all those who suffer at the hands of terror, war and famine, to answer the question put to Jesus in the Gospel of St. Luke, ‘And who is my neighbor?’ ” said Msgr. Vaccari. “By visiting the church of Jerusalem, from which our faith has spread throughout the world, we hope to communicate to our suffering sisters and brothers of our unity in resolve and purpose in assisting them in their time of Golgotha, as we work together to seek justice and advance the cause of lasting peace.”
The pastoral visit follows the 12 August call of the president of the USCCB, U.S. Military Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, for a special collection to be taken up in parishes across the United States “to provide humanitarian relief and pastoral support for our affected brothers and sisters in Gaza and surrounding areas in the Middle East and send donated funds to CNEWA and C.R.S.”
Between 9 October 2023 and 2 September 2025, CNEWA-Pontifical Mission has provided more than $1.6 million in aid from numerous funding partners in Europe and North America for humanitarian purposes in Gaza, of which more than $1.5 million were rushed for food, medical care and psychosocial counseling, helping more than 36,400 people. Partners in these efforts include Gaza’s network of Christian communities and social services, including the medical teams of the Near East Council of Churches’ mother and child programs; the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital of the Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem; AISHA Women Society; and the Arab Orthodox Christian Committee’s cultural center, until its destruction.
Founded in 1926 by Pope Pius XI, CNEWA supports the diverse humanitarian and pastoral works of the Eastern churches throughout the Middle East, Northeast Africa, India and Eastern Europe. With the mass exodus of Palestinians following the first Arab Israeli war in 1948 — more than 20 percent of whom were Christian — CNEWA’s works in the Middle East intensified when Pope Pius XII founded Pontifical Mission for Palestine in 1949 and placed its administration and direction under CNEWA. Created as a relief committee to coordinate worldwide Catholic relief to the refugees, subsequent popes have extended the mandate of Pontifical Mission to include assistance to all vulnerable peoples in need throughout the Middle East, where CNEWA-Pontifical Mission operates from regional offices in Amman, Beirut and Jerusalem.