While on a pastoral visit to the Holy Land that combined what one participant said included “the rigid stones and the living stones,” Msgr. Peter I. Vaccari, president of CNEWA-Pontifical Mission, hosted his latest installment of “Connections With Msgr. Peter.”
The two-segment episode, one filmed on the rooftop of Jerusalem’s Notre Dame Centre and the other in the cave of St. Jerome underneath Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity, includes images of the many projects supported by CNEWA-Pontifical Mission. Msgr. Vaccari opened with Psalm 122, in which the psalmist entreats the reader to “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”
From the Church of the Nativity, Joseph Hazboun, regional director of CNEWA-Pontifical Mission for Palestine and Israel, said the Holy Land’s archaeology “reminds us of who we are, where we come from, and where Christianity began.”
“But not only that, we are also having a flavor of the work of the living stones, the Christian community that is multinational and is providing distinguished services to the local community,” Mr. Hazboun said.
The episode, released on 11 September, includes leaders of the Knights of Columbus, who accompanied Msgr. Vaccari, Mr. Hazboun, and Michael J. La Civita, director of communications and marketing for CNEWA-Pontifical Mission.
Mr. La Civita acknowledged the problems facing the Holy Land and its residents: “People who are divided, people who are broken, of course, chaos and conflict. And yet what we have heard thus far from everyone that we have spent time with — be that person a patriarch, or a sister or a parishioner — has been ‘Your visit, your presence here shows us that we are one. We are united, we are in solidarity. We are not alone.’ So, it’s a land of contradictions. And at the same time, yes, there’s blood, there is a bloodbath. Yes, there is chaos. Yes, there is conflict, there is social breakdown. But at the same time, underneath all of this is the presence of Jesus.”
Patrick E. Kelly, supreme knight of the Knights of Columbus, echoed Mr. La Civita’s thoughts.
“What can we do? I think for us, being present is the most important thing we can do, to let people know that they are not alone,” he said. “I think that isolation is what so many people here suffer from.”
Archbishop William E. Lori of Baltimore, vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and supreme chaplain of the Knights of Columbus, said it was a privilege to join the pastoral visit to the Holy Land, “but also to bring a message of solidarity and hope to those who are suffering and in need in the great humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip. So, we all come together: CNEWA, the Knights of Columbus, the bishops’ conference. We are, you might say, united in hope, but also united in charity.”
Archbishop Lori’s mention of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza referred to what U.N. officials have defined as a famine. The USCCB has called for a special collection for Gaza, “to provide humanitarian relief and pastoral support for our affected brothers and sisters in Gaza and surrounding areas in the Middle East.” CNEWA is one of two Catholic agencies that will receive those funds. The Archdiocese of New York will hold its collection over 13-14 September.
After visiting CNEWA-supported projects such as the Crèche, a nursery for abandoned babies in Bethlehem, and St. Nicholas Home for the elderly in Beit Jala, John A. Marrella, supreme secretary of the Knights of Columbus, told Msgr. Vaccari: “What has impressed me, Monsignor, is how you and your staff are the real presence of Christ. You’re carrying that to these people, along with the Daughters of Charity and these other religious orders that we visited. They are the face of Christ here, caring for people, extending the real presence throughout this region.
“And I can’t help but think that wherever they are and wherever you are, there is Christ’s peace right there.”
Watch the episode.