Patriarchal Visit
While on his first pastoral visit to the United States and Canada, Syriac Catholic Patriarch Ignatius Moussa I Daoud visited CNEWA’s headquarters on 14 July. The Patriarch, accompanied by Bishop Joseph Younan of the Syriac Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance and Bishop Joseph Hannouche of the Syriac Catholic Eparchy of Cairo, Egypt, toured the office, greeted staff members and was introduced to the diverse activities of the agency.
The following Sunday the Patriarch celebrated Divine Liturgy at St. Anthony’s Roman Catholic Church in Union, New Jersey. Msgr. Robert L. Stern, Secretary General; Msgr. Denis J. Madden, Associate Secretary General; Chorbishop John D. Faris, Assistant Secretary General; and Brother David Carroll, F.S.C., Assistant to the Secretary General, participated.
Archbishop Egan Installed
On Sunday, 18 June, Archbishop Edward M. Egan took canonical possession of the Archdiocese of New York in a ceremony at the Cathedral of St. Patrick. At the same time he became President, Treasurer and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of CNEWA. Msgr. Stern and Chorbishop Faris represented CNEWA at the ceremony.
The following day Msgr. Stern welcomed the new Archbishop and CNEWA President at a Mass of Installation attended by eight cardinals, over one hundred archbishops and bishops, a thousand priests, deacons and religious and three thousand laymen and laywomen, including civic dignitaries.
Distinguished Visitors
Recent visitors to CNEWA’s New York offices included Mar James Pazhayttil, Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparch of Irinjalakuda, on 13 June and Mar Jacob Thoomkuzhy, Syro-Malabar Catholic Archeparch of Trichur, on 21 June. Both met with senior staff to discuss the work of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church in India.
Armenian Catholic Archbishop Paul Coussa of Baghdad met with Msgr. Stern and Chorbishop Faris on 30 June regarding support for his pastoral and social work in Iraq.
On 26 July Cyril Mar Baselios, Syro-Malankara Metropolitan Archeparch of Trivandrum, met with senior staff members and spoke about his dynamic church.
Mar Emmanuel Pothanamuzhy, Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparch of Mananthavady, met with Msgr. Madden and Chorbishop Faris on 2 August to discuss the current situation of Christians in India.
Congratulations, Brother Vincent!
Brother Vincent Pelletier, F.S.C., CNEWA’s Regional Director for Ethiopia and Eritrea, celebrated the 40th anniversary of his religious profession in June. Twenty-eight of those years have been spent serving the people of Eritrea and Ethiopia.
Msgr. Stern and Brother David represented CNEWA at a celebration at the Christian Brothers Center in Narragansett, Rhode Island, on 17 June.
A Gift From the Knights and Ladies
The Eastern Lieutenancy of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem presented CNEWA on 16 June with a $50,000 gift for its housing renovation program in Jerusalem. The program repairs homes inhabited by needy Palestinians.
An Ethiopian Tale
In Addis Ababa, the Godano Street Children Program provides shelter, food and training in basic hygiene to pregnant, unwed young women who have nowhere else to turn. A staff nurse sees them regularly and a doctor is called when needed. The women also receive simple job training.
Barbara and Leonard Miller, long-time friends of CNEWA, made a grant to CNEWA to be used for “the poorest of the poor,” and their gift was given to this “street children” program. That might have been the end of the story.
Mrs. Miller, however, subsequently visited Ethiopia, where her daughter worked as a lay missionary, and had a chance to see the Godano Street Children Program herself. In a letter to Msgr. Stern, she noted that the project was “extremely satisfying… may God bless you and all of your helpers.”
May God bless Barbara and Leonard Miller.
Catholic-Orthodox Dialogue Meets
Meeting for the first time in the Western Hemisphere, the Joint International Commission for the Theological Dialogue Between the Roman Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church met from 9 to 19 July.
Hosted by the Archbishop of Baltimore and Vice President of CNEWA, William Cardinal Keeler, the Commission met at Mount St. Mary’s College and Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Edward Cardinal Cassidy, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, co-chaired the session with Greek Orthodox Archbishop Stylianos of Australia. Thirteen Orthodox delegates representing the patriarchates of Alexandria, Antioch, Moscow and Romania as well as the churches of Albania, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece and Poland and 23 Catholic representatives took part.
The participants did not reach agreement on issues regarding the role of the Eastern Catholic churches or the papal office, but “The dialogue… was quite fruitful, even if we were not able to create a common document,” Archbishop Stylianos declared.