NEW YORK — The suspension of U.S. government funds for nongovernmental aid and relief efforts overseas will neither curtail nor limit Catholic Near East Welfare Association‘s (CNEWA) work throughout the Middle East, Northeast Africa, India, and Eastern Europe.
“Let me be clear. CNEWA’s work is in no danger of being halted,” said CNEWA President Monsignor Peter I. Vaccari in a message to donors and supporters.
“In fact, we expect a greater number of requests will be presented to us as we closely monitor the situation.”
As an agency of the Holy See, CNEWA operates independently of U.S. government funding, raising its funds from individual people of goodwill worldwide, family foundations, private grant organizations, and partner agencies of the worldwide Catholic community. As a result, CNEWA’s regional offices remain open and fully operational. CNEWA’s boots on the ground continue working for, through, and with the local Eastern churches to provide material and spiritual aid to all in need, regardless of faith or religious creed, further building on the strong relationship of trust shared with these communities as CNEWA prepares to enter its second century of service.
Yet the suspension and potential elimination of U.S. government funding has serious implications for the churches and peoples served by CNEWA.
“The generosity of the American people is extraordinary, and the U.S. government has been a major source of humanitarian aid, providing essential services throughout CNEWA’s world,” said Monsignor Vaccari, listing as examples programs protecting urban children from human traffickers in Ethiopia, water and sanitation services in Gaza and the West Bank, and life-saving food and medical supplies to those in dire need in Lebanon.
“We are deeply aware of and strive to avoid the current globalization of indifference,” continued Monsignor Vaccari. “We can never be indifferent!”
“The parable of the Good Samaritan ‘summons us to rediscover our vocation as citizens of our respective nations and of the entire world,’ Pope Francis wrote in his encyclical, ‘On Fraternity and Social Friendship.’
“CNEWA’s mission,” its president said, “bears a grave challenge: To follow the lesson of the Good Samaritan, to ‘go and do likewise,’ binding the wounds of a broken world as we answer the question put to Jesus, ‘And who is my neighbor?’
“This is who we are as Catholics,” he concluded. “This is what we do. Thank you for being with us as we touch countless lives in incalculable ways, always mindful of the great command of Jesus in the parable of the Good Samaritan, ‘Go and do likewise.'”
CNEWA is a recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in the United States by the State of New York. All contributions are tax deductible and tax receipts are issued. Donations can be made online at cnewa.org; by phone at 800-442-6392; or by mail, CNEWA, 1011 First Avenue, New York, NY 10022.S