Caring for our neighbours

Christians living in the Holy Land and the Middle East are a minority group who often face persecution. “They are small in number and they are being forced out of their homes due to war and violence,” said Melodie Gabriel, development officer for the Catholic Near East Welfare Association Canadian bureau. 

Pope Pius XI founded CNEWA in 1926 to aid Christians in the Middle East, Northeast Africa, India and Eastern Europe and it continues today under the leadership of Pope Francis. 

Since 2003 more than 2.5 million Christians have been displaced. According to CNEWA Christians represent 2 percent of the population in the Holy Land, numbering 175,000 in Israel and 50,000 in Palestine. In Syria, before the Arab Spring, Christians numbered 2 million or 10 percent of the population, that number has been cut in half. There are only 250,000 Christians left in Iraq, making up 1 percent of the population.  

Photo: CNEWA

Many are internally displaced or flee to neighbouring countries such as Lebanon and Jordan. Some, Syrians in particular, have settled in parts of Canada, including Calgary, but for those who stay or have gone back, their homes are often destroyed and require a lot of rebuilding.  “Sometimes people don’t feel safe moving back to their town,” said Gabriel. “There have been cases of kidnapping, harrassment, discrimination. There have been times that they’ve been killed because of their faith.”
 
Due to difficulties crossing check points, Palestinian Christians aren’t always granted a pass to attend Easter Mass in Jerusalem.  “The locals can’t experience Easter there, but the tourists have no problem,” said Gabriel. 

She organizes pilgrimages with CNEWA to the Holy Land for those wanting both a spiritual experience and a snapshot into the life of local Christians. The next one is being planned for 2020. “The Christians are always very grateful when we come and visit them. They feel supported,” said Gabriel. 

In August, Gabriel spoke at the national Catholic Women’s League (CWL) Convention held in Calgary because CNEWA is one of the charities CWL supports at the national level. Two of the projects CWL funds are a centre in Jerusalem that provides tutoring for at-risk youth and a centre near Bethlehem providing healthcare for women and their babies. 

National CWL President Anne-Marie Gorman went on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and met some of the local Christians, including entrepreneurs who left to seek education in the United States, but returned to open a brewery.  “Things seem to be so unstable, so I’m thinking if they have enough faith to go home and settle back in the Palestinian occupied territory, it behooves us to support them as best we can,” said Gorman. 

“Our past spiritual adviser Bishop Martin Currie said the Holy Land is in danger of becoming like Disneyland, just a tourist site that people go see what it used to be like. But when I was there, it was all about these people being living stones. These are the people that haven’t left.” 

St. Bonaventure parishioner Kathleen Kufeldt is one of many Calgarian donors who financially support CNEWA. For several years she has organized a raffle at her parish for CNEWA during the annual CWL fundraiser.  “I think we are so blessed here to practice our faith. My heart goes out to the Christians in the Middle East,” said Kufeldt.

​“I feel it must be one of Jesus’s wounds that the area where He was born and grew up is so difficult for His followers.” 

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Written by Sara Francis for Faithfully