CV NEWS FEED // Archbishop of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan is set to visit Israel and Palestine on April 12-18 as chair of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association.
Cardinal Dolan will meet with Christian, Jewish and Muslim religious leaders during the visit, which was planned before Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, according to an April 3 news release. Msgr. Peter Vaccari, the Catholic Near East Welfare Association-Pontifical Mission’s president, will accompany the Cardinal on tours of social services and humanitarian aid facilities. The Cardinal’s visit marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Pontifical Mission for Palestine.
OSV News reported that Michael La Civita, the Association’s communications director, said Dolan’s visit would commemorate the Mission’s anniversary and communicate the Church’s solidarity with the vulnerable throughout the Middle East, especially those in Israel and Palestine. Cardinal Dolan will celebrate two liturgies for the Missions’ anniversary and visit families whose loved ones are still held hostage. La Civita told the news wire service that, for security reasons, the full itinerary of the trip has not been released. Dolan’s visit, which does not include travel to Gaza, will go ahead as planned, despite Israeli attacks on Gaza that killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers.
“This is where you have to have faith that we will be protected by the Lord through the intercession of the Blessed Mother,” La Civita said, noting that Msgr. Vaccari “always” prays to the Blessed Mother for protection.
The Association, which is an agency of the Holy See, was founded in 1925 and serves “as an instrument of love and a sign of hope for those in need scattered throughout the historic but unstable lands of the ancient Eastern churches,” according to its website. The agency does this by connecting laity, priests, and bishops, in countries such as Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Ethiopia, India, Armenia and Ukraine to a vast network of donors around the world.
