Addis Ababa, Amman, Asmara, Beirut, Ernakulam, Jerusalem, the Caucasus, Ukraine. What do these disparate locations have in common? In each of them resides a regional team of an international organization which is celebrating its centennial this year.
In 1926 Pope Pius XI consolidated the Holy See’s Sacred Congregation for the Eastern Church and the original Catholic Near East Welfare Association into one papal agency which retained the latter’s name. In the 1930s CNEWA was restructured and placed under the administration of the archbishop of New York, its current world headquarters.
The initial impetus for the relief movements leading to the creation of CNEWA was the extensive displacement of people in Europe and the Middle East resulting from World War I and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire. Ever since, the disruptions of wars have consumed its humanitarian and Christian response – even now up through the conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza.
As its website reports: “For a century, CNEWA has walked side by side with those in need. We prayed with them when they were attacked, comforted them when they grieved, fed them when they hungered, bandaged them when they bled, sheltered them when they had no place to call home. We have been there, always, through the arms of the living body of Christ, the Church, as they live for others, counseling the despondent, caring for the sick, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, sheltering the homeless, teaching the eater and forming the next generation of leaders”.
For a century ‘hope is CNEWA’s calling card’. Not only does it address basic humanitarian needs, it also comforts, consoles, educates and provides hope to men, women and especially children displaced by the pernicious disruption of seemingly endless civil and international conflicts.
In the current edition of its official publication called “ONE”, CNEWA reports on inter alia the vicissitudes experienced by the health sector in Gaza and the challenges encountered by the victims of the Russian war against Ukraine. As an example, in the latter situation, since 2022 CNEWA has provided more than $10 million to church-led initiatives in Ukraine for food, shelter, medical care, educational needs, and support for seminaries and houses of religious formation.
In that same edition, Msgr. Peter Vaccari, President of CNEWA marks the beginning of its second century with these words: “My hope is that we will remain open to the movement of the Spirit, the intercession of the Virgin Mary, and God’s daily graces to guide our journey, our partnerships and our strategies. My hope in this 100th year is that we will remain open and strive to broaden the opportunities to build a culture of encounter and dialogue on ecumenical and interfaith levels”.
The trustees and donors of NCCF congratulate Msgr. Vaccari and all his partners within the wide CNEWA embrace on this celebrated milestone in the agency’s history. A clearer example of the advance of the Kingdom is hard to come by. Ad Multos Annos!
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