On Tuesday, December 5, the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) will host its annual Healing and Hope Gala in Manhattan, welcoming as its guest of honor Good Shepherd Sister Marie Claude Naddaf and presenting John J. Studzinski with its Faith and Culture Award.

An advocate and champion of survivors of trafficking and a tenacious fighter in combatting all modern forms of slavery, Studzinski co-founded the Arise Foundation. Arise works with front-line groups and networks to fight trafficking head-on through prevention, care for survivors, and community-oriented leadership addressing trafficking at the local level. Studzinski is the managing director and vice chair of PIMCO, as well as the founder and chairman of the Genesis Foundation, a charity that supports young artists.

Good Shepherd Sister Marie Claude Naddaf has been an advocate for women and girls since she first entered religious life in her native Syria when she was 17 years old. She has worked tirelessly to uphold the rights of women and girls in the Middle East. As the coordinator of Wells of Hope, a regional initiative of Talitha Kum, the Rome-based international network of religious sisters dedicated to combatting human trafficking, her anti-trafficking work reaches all levels, from education to prevention, rehabilitation, and empowerment. CNEWA is honored to recognize Sister Marie Claude Naddaf as its special guest.

Previous recipients of CNEWA’s Faith and Culture Award include the former Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus Carl A. Anderson, and the Most Rev. William F. Murphy, the bishop emeritus of Rockville Centre and a CNEWA trustee.

An agency of the Holy See, CNEWA works in the Middle East, Northeast Africa, India, and Eastern Europe, always for, through, and with the Eastern churches. CNEWA rushes aid to displaced families; provides health care to the most vulnerable; assists efforts to care for the marginalized, especially children, elderly, and those with special needs; funds church-run initiatives preventing trafficking and programs that rehabilitate, counsel and heal survivors; and supports the education and formation of priests, religious sisters and lay leaders.