News from the Equestrian Order
Recently, CNEWA’s senior staff addressed the annual meetings of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem. Msgr. Robert L. Stern, Secretary General, addressed the assembled Knights and Ladies of the Southeastern Lieutenancy in Naples, Florida, on 19 September. Msgr. Stern spoke about the Holy See in the Middle East.
Brother David Carroll, F.S.C., Assistant to the Secretary General, spoke at the annual meeting of the Knights and Ladies of the Northern Lieutenancy and investiture in Denver on 25 and 26 September. Brother David discussed the Eastern Churches and the Holy Land.
Msgr. Stern and Brother David spoke at the annual meeting of the Southwestern Lieutenancy in San Antonio on 17 October. Topics included the Holy See and the Middle East and the relationship of prayer to peace.
New Armenian Catholic Patriarch
The Armenian Catholic Church elected a new leader, Patriarch of Cilicia of the Armenians Nersses Boulos XIX.
Born Boulos Taza in Egypt in 1940, the future Patriarch studied theology and philosophy in Rome. In 1965 he was ordained to the priesthood.
The Patriarch began his pastoral ministry at the Armenian Cathedral in Cairo, then served at St. Thérèse Church in Cairo for 22 years. In 1990, he was appointed Bishop of the Armenian Catholic Diocese of Alexandria, responsible for Egypt’s Armenian Catholic community.
Home for Aged Opens
Founded and administered by the Franciscan Sisters of the Cross of Lebanon, the Home of Care for the Aged and the Handicapped in Fuheis, Jordan, opened officially on 17 August. Sponsoring the event was Queen Rania of Jordan, who attended the dedication.
The Pontifical Mission assisted the sisters in purchasing a bus and equipment for the handicapped, both children and adults.
The Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of the Cross of Lebanon was founded in 1930 by Father Jacques Haddad. The community administers homes for the aged, orphanages, schools and hospitals in Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Syria and Italy.
A New Book for the Millennium
Achille Cardinal Silvestrini, Prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches, introduced in Rome, on 21 October, a new book for the millennium, The Great Jubilee of 2000 and the Eastern Catholic Churches.
The 130-page book contains suggestions for the celebration of the Holy Year and for pilgrimages to Rome by Eastern Catholics. The book also includes an appendix of the liturgical year and the principal feasts and characteristics of the Eastern churches.
Indian Catholics Debate Role
Despite apparent efforts by the state to limit Christian participation in government matters, Catholic bishops in India urged greater church participation in public life at a late summer conference in Kottayam.
Participants were divided as to how such participation might be accomplished. Some felt there should be proportional representation in parliamentary elections. Others felt such a gesture might seem to endorse sectarian politics; they favored support of any honest, responsible candidate.
The Kerala Catholic Foundation, an umbrella organization with Latin, Syro-Malabar and Syro-Malankara representation, sponsored the conference.
Clean Water in Ethiopia
For the first time, there is clean water in the village of Nura Era. Thanks to the newly completed water purification system utilizing the once-polluted waters of a nearby river, clean water is now available for the villagers of this remote Ethiopian village. Along with the dedicated help and guidance of our Addis Ababa office, two longstanding friends of the Association, Dr. Wendell Rossman and his late wife, Doreen, contributed their time, money and loving concern to this project.
Armenian Catholicos Elected
The Armenian Apostolic Church elected 48-year-old Archbishop Karekin Nersessian, Vicar General of Etchmiadzin, Armenia, and Vicar of the neighboring Diocese of Ararat, as Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, on 27 October.
Catholicos Karekin II was born in 1951 in Voskihat, near Etchmiadzin, Armenia. He studied at Etchmiadzin Seminary, at the University of Vienna, and at Bonn University. He then enrolled in post-graduate studies at the Russian Orthodox Academy in Zagorsk, Russia, graduating in 1979.
Karekin II is noted for using technological means, particularly television broadcasts, as tools of evangelism and outreach.