Susan Korah

As the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) marks 100 years of humanitarian service this year, its national teams continue working in partnership with Eastern churches and local charities in the Middle East, Ethiopia, India, Ukraine and Armenia to bring the light of love, hope and healing to communities ravaged by war, genocide, natural disasters and economic hardship.

As choral and instrumental music, accompanied by the soaring voice of a Polish soprano, filled the flower-decorated interior of Ottawa’s Notre Dame Basilica and wafted to its sky blue, star-studded ceiling, Maria Knapik sat at one of the pews, listening with rapt attention.

On a cold, crisp Ottawa morning, a crowd of approximately 2,000 packed Rogers Centre in the shadow of Parliament Hill today to celebrate Canada’s Christian heritage and to pray together for unity in a divided world.

Despite living in perpetual fear of being caught in the crossfire, the Maronite Catholic population in southern Lebanon has defied evacuation orders, being deeply attached to their ancient homeland and rooted in and invincible faith.

“His voice was silenced but his mission lives on.”  So says a video promoting Blood and Water, a newly released biography of Shahbaz Bhatti, gunned down 15 years ago, March 2, 2011, by religious extremists in Islamabad, Pakistan.

An oasis of peace and serenity in this noisy, sprawling metropolis of over eight million in southern India, Ashirvad (meaning blessing in the local language) is a Jesuit centre where Fr. Arun Luis and his brother Jesuits work, pray and live together, dedicated to serving the marginalized in the city.

While political leaders debate the terms of a peace settlement in gilded halls of power, Ukrainians living in the nightmare of an ongoing war are struggling to survive and rebuild the tattered remnants of their lives, say those working on the ground with parishes, eparchies and local partners such as Caritas Ukraine.

A society purged of religious belief and practice was the Utopia envisioned by “New Ageists” like Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, but this era of peace, love, harmony and understanding has not materialized, New York Times columnist Ross Douthat told a Nov. 20 audience of 600 at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre.

The Light in the East benefit gala held in Ottawa on November 7 celebrated the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Canadian wing of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) pontifical charity.

Trocaire (pronounced “throwkara”) is an Irish word for compassion. It is also the name of the Irish wing of Caritas International, the global Catholic charity, and a partner organization to Development and Peace-Caritas Canada (D&P).