For Church and Pope
Margaret Maron, former Production Editor of CNEWA WORLD, has received the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Cross from Pope John Paul II. Edward Cardinal Egan, President and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of CNEWA, presented her with the cross in November. Margaret joined CNEWA in 1990 and retired in January 2002.
She was cited for her “outstanding work and conspicuous dedication to the needs of the church.” Msgr. Robert L. Stern, Secretary General, said her work at CNEWA “was the crowning part of a lifetime of service to the church.”
Christmas in the Holy Land
“Christmas in the Holy Land was a sad occasion,” said Msgr. Denis J. Madden, CNEWA’s Deputy Secretary General, who, substituting for Msgr. Stern, continued a longstanding tradition of concelebrating Midnight Mass in Bethlehem, offered for the intentions of CNEWA’s benefactors.
Msgr. Madden noted the “sadness and resignation” on the faces of the faithful gathered in Manger Square as Latin Patriarch Michel Sabbah urged Palestinian Christians – the vast majority of those in attendance – to work for peace. Pilgrims and tourists, who normally fill Bethlehem at Christmas, were few.
“It was hard to get into the spirit of Christmas,” Msgr. Madden said, “knowing that celebrations were limited, knowing that 24-hour curfews had imprisoned Palestinian families, knowing that more than 70 percent of the population was unemployed.”
50 Years of Dedication
Scores of needy children in India and Ethiopia have better lives thanks to the generosity of Eleanor Broadbridge of Eastpointe, Michigan.
At a dinner last autumn, Chorbishop John D. Faris , CNEWA Under SecretaryGeneral, honored this longtime friend of CNEWA – a 50-year veteran – with a handmade silver cross, fashioned in the form of an angel.
“I really have lost count of all the children I’ve sponsored over the years,” Mrs. Broadbridge said. “It’s important to me to help these poor children. It makes their future so much brighter.”
Hitting the Books
This may be the age of information, but adequate information resources are in demand in Egypt,Ethiopia, India and Ukraine.
In 2002, Brother David Carroll, F.S.C., Assistant to the Secretary General, packed off some 5,000 books to schools and seminaries there. U.S. seminaries and a number of individuals have donated to CNEWA their collections, especially philosophy, theology and psychology texts, for distribution at school and seminary libraries, which are often outdated and also lack funding.
A prize shipment was a 32-volume Encyclopædia Britannica that found a home at the seminary in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa. Humanities and science books, Brother David noted, are also needed.
Golden Years for Teresians
The Teresian Association, which administers CNEWA’s Pontifical Mission libraries in Jerusalem, Bethlehem and in Amman, Jordan , celebrated 50 years of service in the Holy Land.
Loreto Ballester , President of the Teresians , encouraged members of the association at the 50th anniversary celebration to live their lives in “joy and gratitude toward the many people who have been a support to us.”
In appreciation, they presented a plaque to CNEWA acknowledging its “assistance during these 50 years of our evangelizing and professional work in the Holy Land.”
The Teresian Association is an international secular institute founded in Spain in 1911, which seeks to transform society through cultural and educational works. It came to Jerusalem in August 1952 and some 70 members have served there.
Give Them Shelter
CNEWA’s Jerusalem office renovated 230 more homes for the Palestinian community inJerusalem’s Old City and the West Bank thanks to a grant from a Spanish foundation, Fundación Promoción Social de la Cultura .
At a reception last November in Jerusalem marking the completion of the grant, Father Guido Gockel , M.H.M., our Regional Director for Palestine, Israel and Cyprus, noted that in the last decade CNEWA has restored more than 850 homes, an ongoing endeavor of the office.
José María Ferré de la Peña , Spanish Consul, who hosted the reception at the Notre Dame Center in Jerusalem, also described a variety of other humanitarian projects sponsored by the Spanish government for the Palestinian community.
Safe Haven for Children
The Kidane Mehret Children’s Home in Addis Ababa, one of several orphanages supported by CNEWA, has completed a new wing.
At a reception inaugurating the new wing, Sister Lutgarda Camilleri , a Franciscan Sister of the Heart of Jesus in charge of the facility, described the plight of abandoned children in Ethiopia , most of whom have nowhere to go.
The Children’s Commission of the Ethiopian government, she noted, will eventually place many of the children at the home for adoption.