Pontifical Mission will mark the 75th anniversary of its founding by Pope Pius XII with events in Lebanon 18-21 July, including a press conference at the Catholic Information Center in Beirut on Thursday, 18 July, at 10 a.m., and a 7 p.m. Divine Liturgy and reception at Bkerke, hosted by Cardinal Bechara Boutros Rai, Maronite patriarch of Antioch and all the East. The president of CNEWA-Pontifical Mission, Msgr. Peter I. Vaccari, will be joining the events together with Chief Financial Officer Tresool Singh-Conway, Director of Programs Thomas Varghese and the Beirut-based team of CNEWA-Pontifical Mission, led by Regional Director Michel Constantin.
Pope Pius XII founded Pontifical Mission to coordinate worldwide Catholic aid to Palestinian refugees who had fled their homes during the first Arab-Israeli conflict. Many of those refugees, particularly those from the Galilee, found refuge in Lebanon, where Pontifical Mission established its field headquarters in 1949.
The pope placed Pontifical Mission’s leadership and administration under CNEWA and subsequent pontiffs have extended Pontifical Mission’s mandate to help meet the needs of all vulnerable persons throughout the Middle East — Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, Israel and Palestine. Today, CNEWA-Pontifical Mission administers programs from three regional centers: Beirut, which works in Lebanon, Syria and Egypt with oversight of emergency relief initiatives in northern Iraq; Amman, which develops programs in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan and Iraq; and Jerusalem, which supports the efforts of the church in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel.
The events in Beirut conclude those that began in Jerusalem and Beit Jala in late April led by CNEWA Chair Timothy Cardinal Dolan of New York and the Latin patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and those held earlier this week in Amman, a highlight of which was an anniversary Mass and reception.
“The historic role of Pontifical Mission has never been more important than at the present hour,” said its president, Msgr. Vaccari. “Pope Francis, in his 27 June address to the participants in the annual meeting of aid agencies serving the Eastern churches, spoke of the woundedness of these communities of faith. He reminded us that ‘we cannot remain indifferent.’
“As Pontifical Mission commemorates its 75th anniversary, we recommit ourselves to being an agency of healing and hope throughout the Middle East. As Pope Francis said in that same address, we must respond to ‘destruction by reconstruction; to the deprivation of dignity by restoring hope; to the tears of children with a smile that speaks of love.’
“We, the members of the CNEWA-Pontifical Mission family of friends and donors, are most grateful to the commitment of our Beirut team in their acceptance of God’s grace in being an instrument of healing and hope.”