CNEWA gala highlights 100 years of service

A benefit gala in Ottawa on Nov. 6 will celebrate the Catholic Near East Welfare Association’s (CNEWA) 100 years of humanitarian service to some of the most vulnerable populations caught in the geopolitical storms of the Middle East and beyond, and highlight a full circle moment in the history of the organization.

Adriana Bara, CNEWA’s national director in Ottawa, said she is looking forward to welcoming two frontline workers from CNEWA’s Beirut team, Dareen Tawk, CNEWA’s senior projects coordinator, and her colleague Larissa Habib, project coordinator. Their message will focus on their work with children and families and highlight how CNEWA, with the help of Canadian supporters, provides a lifeline and bridge of hope for children impoverished by war, displacement and the country’s ongoing economic crisis.

They will also share the story the current state of Catholic schools in Lebanon, which as Bara explained, is a critical focus of CNEWA’s work in the Middle Eastern country.

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Schools run by Catholic educators in Lebanon enjoy an international reputation for the excellence of their education. But, as Tawk and Habib told The Catholic Register from their office in Beirut, these schools are now struggling to stay open because of massive financial challenges.

Graduates of Catholic schools and post-secondary institutions, both Tawk and Habib are passionate about giving the children of Lebanon the same opportunity for a Catholic education that has lit the way to a bright and productive future for themselves.

With displacement from ongoing air strikes as Israel continues its fight against Hezbollah forces in Lebanon leaves families uprooted and deprived of their lands and their livelihoods destroyed, they cannot afford to fund their children’s education, which in turn leaves schools unable to pay teachers’ salaries, they explained.

“Lebanon’s ministry of education used to support Catholic schools, which are semi-free to students,” Tawk said. “But after 2019, the ministry funding stopped, leaving schools to depend on tuition fees for their survival. With no income, and skyrocketing prices of food and other basic needs, parents can no longer afford to pay for their children’s education. And education is needed now more than ever.”

“Schools are important for more than learning,” Habib said. “They instill a sense of belonging and provide mental health services to traumatized children who have lost everything.”

They also play another important role in building peace and internal stability by defusing inter-religious tensions. 

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“About 30 per cent of our students are Catholics, and the rest are Muslims. The schools are a bridge between Catholics and Muslims, and teach them about each other’s religions.”

Tawk described the Wells of Hope Network of which CNEWA is a key financial supporter. This is a program run in Lebanon by a congregation of Maronite (Eastern rite Catholic) Sisters led by Sr. Marie-Claude Naddaf. Through educational programs and workshops in schools and parishes, they teach children how to protect themselves from human traffickers. Tawk also travels to Syria and Iraq to oversee this program.

“This is one of our concerns,” Habib said. “Without an education, children will end up as delinquents in the streets and become prime targets for human traffickers.”  

“Educating them is investing in the future of the country,” Tawk added.

As CNEWA Canada hosts the centennial gala, it will bookend a story that began 100 years ago and would inspire a century of humanitarian service. In December 1922, Pope Pius XI who founded CNEWA provided a sanctuary at his summer residence for 400 Armenian refugee children who had survived the Christian genocide of 1915 in the Ottoman empire. The girls were given shelter, food and a specialized education overseen by Catholic religious congregations which helped to restore their dignity and ignite hope for their future. Eventually, they were successfully placed into homes in vibrant Armenian diaspora communities such as in Beirut.

The emergency rescue of these children was a major impetus in the founding of CNEWA, which today is continuing to save thousands of displaced and bereaved children and families not only in Beirut, but also Syria, Iraq, India, Ethiopia, Ukraine and beyond.

“We are engaged in restoring the childhood of children in Lebanon,” says Tawk. 

“We need to save what otherwise would be a lost generation,” adds Habib.

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As CNEWA marks this important anniversary, CNEWA Canada will present the Faith and Culture Award to His Beatitude Sviatoslav Shevchuk, Major Archbishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, in recognition of his leadership, witness to the Christian faith and commitment to preserving the spiritual and cultural heritage of the Ukrainian people. Fr. John O’Brien, S.J., director of the Martyrs’ Shrine, will be the keynote speaker. 

See cnewa.org/ca/gala.

(Susan Korah is an Ottawa correspondent for The Catholic Register.)

A version of this article appeared in the October 25, 2026 issue of The Catholic Register with the headline "CNEWA gala highlights 100 years of service".