VATICAN CITY — Dr. Bernard Sabella, associate professor of sociology at the Holy See’s Bethlehem University and a participant in the special assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of Bishops, will meet with members of the press Friday, 15 October, from 3 to 4 p.m. at the Istituto Maria SS. Bambina, Via Paulo VI, No. 21, which runs along the southern side of the Piazza S. Pietro.
Dr. Sabella, who is also a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council representing Jerusalem and the executive secretary of the Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees for the Middle East Council of Churches, has authored numerous articles and books on the Palestinian situation, particularly its Christian community.
Founded in 1926 by Pope Pius XI, CNEWA is an agency of the Holy See providing aid to the churches and peoples of the Middle East, Northeast Africa, India and Eastern Europe. Its operating agency in the Middle East, the Pontifical Mission for Palestine, was founded by Pope Pius XII to provide humanitarian assistance to refugees displaced by the Arab-Israeli war in 1948. Today, the Pontifical Mission today functions as the Holy See’s relief and development agency for the Middle East. Programs include emergency relief to displaced Iraqi and Palestinian families, community redevelopment projects, job-creation programs and pre- and postnatal medical care.