Prefect Visits India

Ignace Moussa Cardinal Daoud, Prefect of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches, visited CNEWA’s new office in Ernakulam during a historic trip to India in January.

Regional Director Thomas Varghese and staff members welcomed Cardinal Daoud to their facilities, which opened in November. India receives more CNEWA aid than any other country.

Cardinal Daoud participated in the meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, which was held this year in Trichur.

Branching Out

CNEWA has established a national office in Canada. CNEWA Canada was incorporated on 30 October under the leadership of Archbishop Marcel Gervais of Ottawa.

Msgr. Robert L. Stern, Secretary General, appointed Carl Hétu as National Secretary of CNEWA Canada, which will be based in Ottawa. The native of Longueuil, Quebec, will oversee the development of the new office, which will raise funds across the country for the work of the agency.

In the United States, CNEWA’s fund-raising activities have been reorganized and incorporated separately. Chorbishop John D. Faris, Associate Secretary General, will direct CNEWA United States as its National Secretary. Mill Hill Father Guido Gockel, former Regional Director for Palestine and Israel, will join him as Associate National Secretary. Maher Turjman, who has served in CNEWA’s Jerusalem office for over 10 years, has been named Regional Director for Palestine and Israel.

Catholic Leaders Meet in Palestine

Mr. Turjman briefed the heads of Catholic episcopal conferences on efforts to coordinate the work of Catholic agencies in the Holy Land.

His presentation, which also focused on CNEWA’s programs in the region, came during a four-day meeting of representatives from North and South America and Europe. The Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land hosted the event and urged its guests to help protect the Christian character of the Holy Land.

At the end of the meeting, which began at Bethlehem University, the participants pledged their support to local Christians, criticized Israel’s construction of a security barrier in the West Bank and condemned recent Palestinian terrorist attacks.

Aid Coordination

CNEWA joined fellow Catholic funding agencies for a meeting in January called by the Congregation for the Eastern Churches to discuss aid priorities.

Msgr. Stern chaired the Rome meeting while Regional Director Ra’ed Bahou addressed the assembled agencies on CNEWA’s activities in Iraq.

The agencies agreed to coordinate their respective Iraqi aid programs. While emergency assistance remains a priority, Msgr. Stern said the agencies hope to develop a long-term pastoral and humanitarian plan in coordination with the Chaldean Patriarch, Emmanuel III.

The meeting also focused on the Eastern Catholic churches of India, with Syro-Malabar Major Archbishop Varkey Cardinal Vithayathil and Syro-Malankara Archbishop Cyril Mar Baselios addressing the agencies on the pastoral and humanitarian needs of their churches.

New Ethiopian Eparchy

Pope John Paul II has established the Eparchy of Emdeber in southern Ethiopia, naming Capuchin Father Musie Ghebreghiorghis as its first bishop.

The new eparchy was carved out of the Metropolitan Archeparchy of Addis Ababa. It will serve 18,400 faithful in 14 parishes and includes 16 priests, 6 men religious and 12 women religious.

CNEWA in Richmond

CNEWA’s representatives visited a Catholic parish in Richmond, Virginia, in late January to discuss the work of the papal agency.

Brother David Carroll, F.S.C., CNEWA’s Undersecretary General, addressed the parishioners of St. Benedict Church during weekend Masses, which concluded the Week of Christian Unity, and at a dinner at a local restaurant.

In addition to describing the humanitarian and pastoral programs of the agency, Brother David offered free subscriptions of CNEWA WORLD to members of the church, which has been active in supporting the agency’s relief work in Iraq.

“Let us be your hands,” Brother David said, urging parishioners to contribute to the agency’s work in the Middle East. “Let us demonstrate your love for the land and peoples of Christ’s birth, furnishing mother and child clinics, building kindergartens and providing jobs to the unemployed.”