The Last Word
“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” (Lk 2:14)
T
he Advent and Christmas seasons announce a time of waiting, a time of hope, a time of peace, a time of joy. How wide is the chasm between that announcement and our lived experience in 2023? Are we not overwhelmed by darkness, multiple forms of evil and violence, the reality of sin and division? In this year 2023, thanks to you — who have prayed with us and have engaged in the crises CNEWA seeks to address — we have made, and will continue to make, a difference for good. I pray we, together, will continue to be instruments of hope, peace and joy. In my two visits this past summer to Ukraine, in June and August, I saw the horror of war and the heroic,
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Perspectives from the president by Msgr. Peter I. Vaccari
resilient people of Ukraine in their resolve to win and to rebuild their country. I remain in ongoing communication with our office in the Holy Land. I recall our team visit to Gaza in June 2022. CNEWA denounces the vicious attack of Hamas against Israel and stands in solidarity with the innocent victims of the Hamas massacre. We recognize Israel’s right to defend itself, within the parameters of proportionality, and we decry the massive loss of innocent human life in Gaza — the deaths of infants, children, mothers, fathers and the elderly, including members of the extended CNEWA family. We continue to work with our partners in support of the dignity of the traumatized Palestinian people in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and in the rebuilding of their communities, offering them humanitarian and psychosocial support. CNEWA continues to support the ethnic Armenians forced from their homes in Nagorno-Karabakh. And we remain on the ground in our efforts to eradicate the