Connections to CNEWA’s world Msgr. Vaccari in Ukraine
While visiting Lviv in June, Msgr. Peter I. Vaccari meets a woman who was internally displaced by the war in Ukraine and had just learned her home was destroyed in the collapse of the Kakhovka dam. Msgr. Peter I. Vaccari, CNEWA president, made two pastoral trips to Ukraine this summer in a spirit of solidarity and concern for a people suffering from war, upon the invitation of Ukrainian Catholic University, Caritas Ukraine and the curia of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church. He was accompanied on his first trip, 4-7 June, by a CNEWA delegation, which included Adriana Bara, national director for CNEWA in Canada, and Anna Dombrovska, programs officer who focuses on CNEWA’s work in Ukraine. They visited CNEWA-funded programs in western Ukraine, such as Sheptytsky Hospital in Lviv, the Basilian seminary and monastery, a child care center, a food box distribution center, and a center for orphaned and vulnerable girls, run by the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate. From 20 to 28 August, Msgr. Vaccari traveled to central and eastern Ukraine, visiting CNEWA-funded programs supported by the curia of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church and Caritas Ukraine, including stops in Kyiv,
Beirut, Three Years Later Three years after the Beirut port blast on 4 August 2020 killed 200 people and injured another 6,000, the city is on the path toward healing, although socioeconomic and political volatility complicate this process, said Michel Constantin, CNEWA’s regional director for Lebanon. The houses and buildings on the main streets have been repaired,
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Bucha, Irpin and Makariv. He also met with Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv-Halych, Tetiana Stawnychy, president of Caritas Ukraine, and Metropolitan Borys Gudziak of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia, who was also in Ukraine on a pastoral visit. “It is so important for our partners on the ground to know they are not alone, that the worldwide CNEWA family is committed to know and support their work, and to stand in solidarity with the suffering of the Ukrainian people on every level,” said Msgr. Vaccari upon his return. “These site visits allow for a better understanding of the war’s impact on the church and the people, and gives us better insight to offer better support.” To support CNEWA’s ongoing work in Ukraine, go to: cnewa.org/what-we-do/ukraine.
and shops and restaurants have reopened. Beirut has received more than 2 million tourists this summer — almost half the city’s population — inspiring hope for the local economy. More than 70 percent of the tourists were Lebanese living in the diaspora. Despite these improvements, the absence of government and dysfunctional political and financial
systems have left many without the assistance they need, said Mr. Constantin. About 80 percent of Lebanon’s population lives in poverty. Families live in darkness for up to 18 hours a day, as they cannot afford a generator for electricity. Nor do they do have the funds to afford a propane cylinder to prepare a hot meal, buy medication, seek health care or provide tuition for their children’s education.