Meeting the President
On Monday, 10 September, Edward Cardinal Egan, Archbishop of New York and President of CNEWA, joined our overseas regional directors at our New York office for an update on the political, social and economic issues in the Middle East, Northeast Africa, India and Eastern Europe. The Cardinal was eager to learn more about the work of this papal agency, which has been responding to crises for 75 years. “I’m here to listen,” he said.
Following the meeting, the group participated in an ecumenical prayer service at nearby Holy Family Church for the 56th General Assembly of the United Nations, which was to open the next day. Cardinal Egan and Archbishop Renato Martino, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, presided at the liturgy.
Hats Off to Bethlehem University
On 21 July, Archbishop Pietro Sambi, who is also Chancellor of Bethlehem University, presented diplomas to 497 students who constituted the university’s 25th graduating class. Latin Patriarchal Auxiliary Bishop Giacinto-Boulos Marcuzzo of Nazareth delivered the graduation address.
The university’s first degrees were conferred in 1975, when 13 graduates received diplomas in Hotel Management. Today the university confers degrees in a broad range of fields that reflect its growth since its modest beginning in 1973 with about 100 students.
Bethlehem University now serves some 2,000 students in five faculties.
Happy Birthday, Ephpheta!
The staff and students of the Paul VI Ephpheta Institute in Bethlehem observed the institute’s 30th anniversary with a liturgy celebrated in its chapel on 2 September by Archbishop Pietro Sambi, Delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine. Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Michel Sabbah presided.
Ephpheta was founded at the request of the Pope for whom it was named following his visit to the Holy Land in 1964. Supported almost entirely by CNEWA, the institute is run by the Sisters of Saint Dorothy, a community renowned for its skill in educating the hearing impaired.
Eastern Canons Published
The Canon Law Association of America has published a new English translation of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, translated in consultation with leading church authorities by CNEWA’s Chorbishop John D. Faris, Assistant Secretary General, and Father Jobe Abbass, O.F.M. Conv., of the Pontifical Oriental Institute, members of an ad hoc committee established in 1995.
The 860-page text contains the official Latin text and the fontes, or canonical sources for particular canons, as well as the English translation. The volume is compatible with the Code of Canon Law, which pertains to the Latin Church.
For more information about the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches or the Code of Canon Law, please contact CLSA Publications, P.O. Box 463, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701-0463 or by telephone at (301) 362-8197 [Fax: (301) 206-9782]. The list price of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches is US$60. The ISBN is 0-943616-88-3.
Canon Law Society of America web site: http://www.clsa.org/publications/index.html
Books Abroad
A five-year ad hoc CNEWA program has sent 4,533 donated books to overseas libraries. St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie, New York, Our Lady of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois, and other U.S. seminaries are primary donors. Priests, sisters and interested private citizens have also donated books covering such topics as theology, philosophy, English, history, literature and psychology.
Books have been sent to Dharmaram College in India, to Catholic and Orthodox seminaries in Ethiopia and to Lviv Theological Academy, which shares library facilities with the Catholic University of Ukraine. Seminaries in Lebanon will soon receive books as well.
This CNEWA program also provides resource materials–particularly children’s books covering science, math and other subjects–for Pontifical Mission libraries in Amman, Bethlehem and Jerusalem.
Fore! for CNEWA
A record 174 Detroit-area golfers raised $23,000 for CNEWA at the 4th annual CNEWA Golf Outing on 20 September. Fifty-eight golfers also volunteered to sponsor a child enrolled in CNEWA’s Needy Child Sponsorship Program.Participants gathered at the Hawk Championship Golf Course at Partridge Creek in Clinton Township, Michigan, to enjoy 18 holes of golf, win prizes and share lunch and dinner with Chorbishop John D. Faris, Assistant Secretary General, and Rozanne Landers, Planned Gifts Associate.
“Although it was a cloudy day, the sun shone on us,” Ms. Landers reported. “We all had fun and CNEWA is grateful for the donations and sponsorships.
“Special thanks are due George Thomas and John David, who handled the details.”
Eastern Code Update
In early October, as part of CNEWA’s 75th anniversary observances, Msgr. Archimandrite Robert L. Stern, Secretary General, sent as his gift a copy of the new English translation of the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches to each bishop in the United States and to all Eastern Catholic bishops throughout the world.
Also in October, the Canon Law Society of America honored Chorbishop John D. Faris, Assistant Secretary General of CNEWA, for his pivotal role in preparing the new translation. Msgr. Robert Deely, President of the Canon Law Society, honored Chorbishop Faris during the Former Presidents Breakfast on 10 October. Himself a former president of the Society, Chorbishop Faris gratefully acknowledged an ovation from the 500 canonists present.
The event was a highlight of the Canon Law Society’s annual meeting, held in Albuquerque from 8 to 11 October, during which Chorbishop Faris conducted a seminar on “The Pastoral Care of Migrants and the Eastern Code.”
The approximately 1500 members of the Canon Law Society–bishops, priests, religious sisters, religious brothers and lay persons–staff diocesan tribunals and canonical offices and provide canonical formation in all facets of the church.
Canon Law Society of America web site: http://www.clsa.org/publications/index.html