Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: Welcome back to another edition of our diocesan podcast, Big City Catholics, with Bishop Robert Brennan, the diocesan bishop of Brooklyn, serving in Brooklyn and Queens, and myself, Father Christopher Henry, pastor of St. Joan of Arc Parish here in Jackson Heights, Queens. Today we're joined with Monsignor Peter Vacari, priest of the Diocese of Brooklyn, who serves as the president of the Catholic Near East Welfare association and Pontifical Mission. Really happy to have you, Monsignor, on with us today as we talk a little bit about the recent events and certainly in the political scene of Holy Land through Israel and Gaza, as well as the work that you do. And also in light of this World Mission Sunday, which approaches us this Sunday, October 19th. And so before we begin with our conversation with you, Monsignor, let us begin in prayer. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. Bringing our prayers to our Holy Mother, Queen of Peace, we pray. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
[00:01:13] Speaker C: Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
[00:01:18] Speaker B: In the name of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Amen. Bishop Brennan, good to be back with you as well, each and every week. How are things here in the diocese?
[00:01:25] Speaker C: Things are good, busy as always. In the last week, I had some good experiences, for example, with our ambassadors. They were on retreat in Huntington with different parish visitations. Confirmations are kind of kicking up again for the fall, so it's a good season. And then I'm looking forward this coming weekend. Well, it's Mission Sunday, and The Sisters of St. Joseph celebrate the 375th anniversary of the Universal foundation and the work that they've been doing. And I'm looking forward to having that celebration at the Cathedral of St. James because, of course, their local foundation is right here in Brooklyn, and so they serve very much on the whole island, across the island, Nassau and Suffolk and Brooklyn and Queens. And even as we get to Mission Sunday, they've served in the missions. I can think of the sisters who served out in Santo Domingo and Andovaya in Dominican Republic. So these are good, good days. But I'm thrilled that we're going to have Monsignor Vicari with us today. I think of him with great affection, great esteem. He was director of the seminary in Huntington, and then when we did the merger in Dunwoody, so that when New York and Brooklyn and Rockville center came together as a partnership, he really helped to shepherd us through that and to lead the combined seminary. He's a great historian, a man of the church, and when he finished his tenure, he went into the missions work, specifically with the Catholic Near East Welfare Association. So, Monsignor Bakari, thank you for joining us. Welcome to Big City Catholics.
[00:02:56] Speaker A: Bishop Brennan, thank you for the invitation. It's certainly an honor to be with you. Father Christopher, thank you very much for the helping, preparation for this, for this conversation. I'm really very much looking forward to it. Thank you. Thank you very much.
[00:03:09] Speaker C: You know, we have a lot to talk about when it gets to Mission Sunday, but I think we have to begin at where we are at this current moment. We've been talking about finding time to connect with you, and this seemed like a good week. Little did I know that it would be such a momentous week. And we've been praying for peace in the Middle east, in Gaza, in Israel. We've been praying for the return of the hostages. We've been praying for peace around the world. And we're seeing some encouraging news. It's been a big week. I know there's an awful lot of work to do, but I wanted to get your assessment of things.
[00:03:43] Speaker A: Sure. Well, thank you, Bishop. We have Kanewa and Pontifical Mission. We have three offices in the region that we're talking about directly affected. Our office in Jerusalem, our office in Beirut, and our office in Amman in Jordan. Just this morning, I had my most recent zoom meeting with the office in Jerusalem. It was in early September that I traveled to the office in Jerusalem for the purpose of coordinating along with the Grand Hospitaller of the Order of Malta and also with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, with our office, of course, Pontifical Mission with Archbishop Laurie, who joined us, and also with Patrick Kelly, the Supreme Knight. We were there to gather and to say when the time comes, when there is a release of the hostages, when there is a ceasefire, and when conditions on the ground will permit safe passage, how are we going to organize, at least from the perspective of the Catholic Church and from our responsibilities, given what they are, how can we begin to organize our. How we can bring that safe, how we can bring that assistance, humanitarian assistance, initially, of course, into Gaza. So that was the focus of that meeting. Bishop, you are familiar with the Conference of Bishops Committee on Justice and Peace serves as a resource on that committee. And so I was in Washington last week as a resource for the meeting of the bishops. And of course, this was one of the significant issues at that particular time.
We made a strategic decision that is Kanewa and Pontifical Mission. We made a strategic decision back in October of 2023, when that horrific and horrendous attack was launched by Hamas and the other extremist groups against Israel. At that time, we made a decision to remain at work with people in Gaza. And so from that time, really to the present, as modest as it has been, we have been able to at least distribute clean water, some medicine, even working with the Alabi Hospital, some basic food stuff. We've been able to have and supply resources for people to be able to make purchases to the extent that they could in different regions in Gaza where they'd be able to give some supply. Again, a very modest amount, but there was some possibility of doing it there. With the events that have developed over the course of literally the last couple of days, I think it now hopefully will open up more possibilities for us on many levels, whether it's first and foremost, foremost clean water, medicine, food. That's number one, the first category that we've got to try to do. We've also got to try to increase the very little we've been able to do in terms of psychosocial counseling for people of all ages. They've been traumatized, as we can well imagine, all of us. So we're trying to work in those areas, and hopefully we will be able to do that. That will be something that will be important.
Last week at the bishops meeting, they referred to the 20 point peace plan, because point number 18 refers to looking forward to the day when there can be now a greater collaboration conversation along lines that will be interfaith, that will be ecumenical, that will reach out to people of no faith, but now all with a common humanity, in an effort to try to bring some semblance of relief, assistance, aid into the area.
As of this morning, unfortunately, there remains violence in Gaza, and that's what's being reported. However, with the violence that continues in Gaza, there has been an opening at Rafah in the south. So some aid has started to go in from there. In my conversations with the leadership of Malta, my conversations also with our leadership in Amman in Jordan, and of course, the office in Jerusalem, we know of where other resources right now are being stored, where trucks are waiting in Jordan to go in with aid. But the limitations now are still waiting. While it's been good news that the hostages were released, we're still waiting, of course, for the bodies of the deceased to be brought out. So until this, the area reaches a certain measure of greater safety, I think all of the groups have to be careful in terms of trying to get in the aid they want to get in there.
[00:08:03] Speaker C: And yet it's so desperately needed, right?
[00:08:05] Speaker A: So desperately needed. It's so desperately needed. Yeah.
[00:08:08] Speaker C: You know, one of the things Bishop Murphy, Rockfell center, always used to say is that, you know, when a crisis erupts, the world tries to get there to be of help in humanitarian help. But one of the beautiful things that we have with the Catholicity, the universality of the Church is that through organizations like the Catholic Near East Welfare association, like the Pontifical Missions, we're already there.
It's not like we have to kind of gather the resources and get things to immobilize. We're already there in the Holy Land. And I think that's such an important gift that you bring you, meaning collectively, the Catholic Near East Welfare Association. The fact that you have a presence there, that you have relationships there, that you are working in the community. We don't have to mobilize now. You just have to be able to spring into action.
[00:08:56] Speaker A: So true, Bishop. That is really one of the opportunities and one of the challenges that Kanewa and Pontifical Mission has. We have an office in Jerusalem, so we are working our mandate. Since 1926, when we were founded by Pope Pius XI, our mandate has been to work with all of the Eastern churches. However, having said that, in all the places where we work, and especially when we are working in times of crisis, whether you are Eastern or Latin, whether you're Catholic or Orthodox, whether you are to Jews, to Muslims, to Catholics, to people of no faith, our being on the ground there, it means we're ready to bring assistance. When there was that horrific earthquake between Syria and Turkey, we were there because, as you point out, we have offices on the ground. So the office in Jerusalem, the office in Beirut, were able to just get the aid that is necessary in the area that is affected. We don't ask for any kind of ID cards. It's just a matter of these are people who are suffering, and we're there to fulfill the mandate of. Of the Good Samaritan and the Mandate of Jesus. That's our goal. Nobody receives because you're Catholic. Our giving is because we're Catholic.
[00:10:04] Speaker C: Beautifully put. What comes to mind during these weeks of the year? The readings. First a couple of weeks ago at Mass and now in the office of Readings. Take us to the people like Haggai and Zechariah and Nehemiah and Ezra. And I often think about that experience of the Jewish people after the Babylonian exile and this whole idea of reconstruction, this breath of relief that, yes, we can go home, but then going home and facing the reality and seeing the destruction and not even knowing where to begin. This is going to be a monumental task for people, isn't it?
[00:10:39] Speaker A: The numbers right now, I think, are being discussed, but I don't think anybody has a sense in terms of what the financial cost is going to be to this. And beyond the financial cost, which is enormous, there are deep wounds. Now, early on after the attack, one of the things that we did was to give aid to the local Jewish people here in New York City. We've also been against anti Semitism, which we have deplored very openly in terms of this being the wrong way to go, unacceptable. So it becomes a matter of trying to see. And that's why I think last week it was very interesting that the bishops pointed out that article number 18, where hopefully this will become a moment in which the desire for people to work together, to live together, to create a whole new atmosphere in terms of what needs to happen for a viable solution here can even overcome with time the deep wounds that have really occurred for many years. Not just over the last three years, but the deep wounds have been there for many years, as we know. And as you point out, even the quest on the part of the Jewish people to find a home gets traced back to his Old Testament roots. So we are continuing to. Along that trajectory of trying to find a place, a safe place for all people to live and to live in justice. And then, of course, it's possible to live in peace.
[00:11:59] Speaker C: You know, the other work of Catholic Near East Welfare association is the church itself. Not all relief societies are as concerned with building up the church. And in the Holy Land, we. We tend to oversimplify it. We tend to look at the Jewish and the Muslim realities and coexistence. But there is an important Christian presence in the Holy Land. And that Christian presence, the Catholic Church has suffered greatly in the middle of a lot of these things for many years.
[00:12:30] Speaker A: So true. So true, Bishop. And during the visit that I made in early September, accompanied by His Excellency Archbishop Laurie, and accompanied also by Patrick Kelly, the supreme knight. In addition to the concerns that we had that brought us to these meetings in Jerusalem, we also wanted to visit the west bank and several villages in the West Bank. One in particular is the village of Taipei, which, as you know, is located probably about 8 to 10 miles north and east of Jerusalem. And it's really the last remaining Christian village in that particular region there. But it has been subject to a tremendous amount of violence by radical settlers all around it. During the summer, Cardinal Pizzabala went there twice with the other Catholic bishops and with the Orthodox patriarchs to make a statement of the injustice that had been done against the Christian community there, whether in terms of the defacing of Christian symbols or in terms of fires that had been set around property. So it's very much, very much a concern and an issue, whether it's in the area of the State of Israel itself or in other places, whether that's in Beirut and what the Christians have suffered in Beirut and continue to suffer there, particularly in the south. There are a number of areas where, as you point out, our charge, our responsibility is to be looking out for and caring for the Christian presence throughout the region. And our office in Beirut, for example, is responsible not only for Lebanon, but is also responsible for Egypt and is responsible for Iraq and is responsible for Syria. Right now in the plans of conference that will be taking place in Damascus, and that will be something that will be an attempt on the part of all of those who will gather there to address very much the suffering of the Christians in that part of the world.
[00:14:18] Speaker C: Pope Leo himself has been very much concerned, as was Pope Francis. I love the reports. You know, Pope Francis would regularly call the pastor in Gaza of the Catholic Church to see how he was doing and to see how the community was. Pope Leo has been expressing a great deal of support, and I understand his early papal visit is going to be to Lebanon.
[00:14:40] Speaker A: Yes, I've heard this, that the visit is going to begin, I think, and correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the visit is going to be in Turkey and then he's going to go into Lebanon, because I know that now the papal nuncio to Lebanon has made the request that Canary have a delegation there with its president as one of the groups that will receive the pope in Lebanon. Whether that's going to happen or not, we're still waiting to see. But I do know that that is one of his early itineraries.
[00:15:06] Speaker C: It sounds very, very good. And it's a sign of his personal engagement. And, you know, from the beginning of his pontificate, he's been praying for peace. He's asked us to pray during this month of October every day to pray the rosary with the intention for peace. And we've had the chance, Father Christopher, we've had the chance to talk a little bit about that. And really the effective nature of prayers for peace, it's not just a, you know, sentimental outpouring, but a real gesture of solidarity. So his call to prayer, it's kind of nice that some this is unfolding in this month of October, which are holy days for the Jewish community and days when we are indeed praying for peace.
[00:15:47] Speaker A: Yeah. And just between October 7, the Feast of Our lady of the Rosary, and October 25, the Feast of Our lady of Palestine, there is throughout the region that we're talking about here today, throughout this region, there is no culture that is indifferent to the importance of Marian spirituality.
There may be different expressions of it liturgically and in terms of different devotional customs, but there is no culture where devotion to the Blessed Mother is foreign to the really heartfelt, on a very emotional, very sensitive area, hope of the people, that she will be involved in the restoration of the people. And that is something that they all look forward to. And you can always be assured of a good turnout when there is going to be an announcement of any kind of a prayer service or any kind of a gathering that is going to invoke her intercession. I've certainly experienced that. And I think Pope Leo will be going to the major Marian shrine, the major Marian shrine in Lebanon, just outside of Beirut, and that overlooks the Mediterranean. That's where, when St. John Paul II went there on his visit, his message was inscribed onto the statue. Lebanon is not a country.
Lebanon is a message. And the message is the message of the bringing together of various cultures and the various religions. And hopefully will be in keeping with what you've expressed, Bishop, in terms of the vision of Pope Francis and now of Pope Leo, to try and open up a real culture of dialogue among all religions and people of faith and people of no faith, but people who are dedicated really, to really bringing out the fullness of our humanity. And certainly, I think John Paul II was aware of that when he made the visit. And I expect that we'll continue to hear that from Pope Leo.
[00:17:38] Speaker C: I'm going to come back to Pope Leo a little bit because I think we need to keep talking about his teaching to us. I'm going to interject, though, for a second, just on a more secular level. I think you have to give credit where credit is due. And I think we have to congratulate President Trump and to congratulate all the different world leaders who've been coming together, really trying to bring dialogue. This is so important to be able to get people to sit down and to talk to. To one another, to listen to one another, and maybe even. It sounds kind of tough to exert a little bit of pressure, you know, fraternal correction, to say, hey, you've got to go along with this. You've got to. You've got to move toward peace so we can always call out when things are wrong. We stand in a position of having to give witness and not to be partisan, but I say credit where credit's due, and thank God that we're at this moment again. Boy, there's an awful lot of work and peace is such a fragile reality. I mean, even in the short time between. Now we're recording this on Wednesday morning and its release on Friday. Who knows what could happen? But we continue to pray for the efforts with a sense of gratitude, but we continue to pray for those efforts and hope that it really is a peace that's based on profound respect for human dignity. That's the only path to peace in the end is that profound respect for human dignity.
[00:19:06] Speaker A: Bishop, I'm very moved by the introduction that you gave to this. In terms of us needing to look at this in very humanitarian terms, as far as I can understand it from a theological perspective, by virtue of the mystery of the Incarnation in the very land we're talking about, we have every reason to be political, but never partisan. And the politics that here is what grounds us is the mystery of the Incarnation. So for as long as God chose to come to earth and take root in a land and grow there, we're political. But Cane was never partisan. And you say to the extent that different parties can engage in conversation and dialogue, we're there.
[00:19:42] Speaker C: Beautifully done.
[00:19:43] Speaker B: Father CHRIS yeah, you are mentioning. Bishop and we want to talk a little bit about Pope Leo's recent exhortation, Apostolic exhortation Dilexitei. I think that also echoing what you had mentioned with Bishop Murphy's line about the church being present, and we often hear this idea of the church walking with accompanying moms in crisis pregnancies, walking with families in need, walking with and accompanying is echoed again in Pope Leo's exhortation, even says that the church, as mother walks with, accompanies the poor in seeking justice and seeking a better life. And Monsignor Vicari, I'm very impressed with the work that you've been doing at Kanewa. I've gone to some of the events that help to fund the missions there and to help fund your organization. Those stories, those testimonials of how Kanewa, how your organization has been present for people and yet, and your courageousness, really, if I may say, I was asked to lead a pilgrimage once, and it was in the midst of great turmoil in the Middle east, and I met you and you were heading to Jordan. I said to My parents who were joining me on this pilgrimage, I said, this man is on his way to Jordan. Like this is. It takes great courage for you and your organization to be accompanying them. What have been some of your. Those takeaways, some of those experiences that you've seen that you bring back to the States to say, look at the work that's being done here. Look at the great work that's being able to be afforded by the generosity of those who donate to Catholic Near East.
[00:21:18] Speaker A: No, thank you, Father Chris. You're very kind. And I am very proud of the commitment and the work of each of our offices, whether it's in the Middle east or the work that we're doing in the Horn of Africa. We have offices on the ground in both Ethiopia and in Eritrea. What we're doing with our office in India, and then the partnerships that we have, particularly in places like Ukraine and Georgia and Armenia. I had an opportunity to share some different moments along those lines with Archbishop Goods last week, but just a very one specific, concrete example, Father Chris, that I can share with you, because I think it's something, at least for me, that unifies all of the places where we are working. And that really comes from the line that I have never forgotten from Pope Francis. And that is because I see it every time I'm on the road and every place that I go. Namely, when you come to a place where children can't or don't smile, there's no hope.
And so it's trying to restore a smile to the face of a child that is the greatest sign of hope.
And we have participated. When I say we, I'm talking about myself and others on the team, whether others that I travel with from here or when I'm in location, whether we gave a workshop, for example, in Beirut last summer, we attended a workshop that was geared against human trafficking. Human trafficking of every kind, and human trafficking that was against every age group. But to see there the children with just tears or having been traumatized because of the experience that they went through, and only then, because they were attending a particular workshop, were they able to break the first smile, to see the first smile on the face of a child. I have come to a deep, deep appreciation for the insight that Pope Francis had in sharing that.
[00:23:06] Speaker C: That concretizes it, doesn't it? Oh, you know, when you put a human face in that and especially the face of a child. So tell me, just following up on Kanaywa and on the work for people who listen to the podcast, how can they get more Information. How could people support the work of Catholic Near East Welfare Association?
[00:23:26] Speaker A: No. Well, thank you, Bishop. The basic contact for people, I think in terms of coming to know us is through the website. So by just going to www.kanewood.org that would get them onto the website and they would see all that we're doing. Kanewa.org they would also see the opportunities there for donating. So whether wanted to donate in terms of coming to, as Father Chris mentioned, we have an upcoming gala dinner on December 1st. They can purchase tickets to that dinner on the website if they wanted to make a single donation. They can make a single donation on the website if they wanted to. Through the website they could also become familiar with our magazine, One Magazine. And of course the website they can access in both English and in Spanish. So I would say that the first place to go would be to the website.
[00:24:14] Speaker C: That's great. We're real proud of you and of the fact that you have to take a little bit of pride in Brooklyn that it's one of our priests who's really firsthand right on the scene in this important work on behalf of the missions in the Eastern church and particularly in the Middle East. And by the way, Penneworth is an acronym for Catholic Near East Welfare association, www.cnewa. among the professionals, we kind of refer to it as Canewa. It's a great way not only certainly to support the work but but merely to show an interest. And that's part of the idea of Mission Sunday, isn't it? Mission Sunday isn't just about a collection. Certainly it's a collection. But Mission Sunday is becoming aware. We just had the gospel reading a couple of weeks ago of the rich man and Lazarus. And the rich man's problem is that he could just never see, never notice. Lazarus. And Lazarus can be right down the street from us, but Lazarus can be halfway around the world. People, I think there's a goodness about.
I experience it in the Catholic Church where people want to hear the stories. They want to know what's happening and they're heartened by the work of missionaries. So on Mission Sunday, we really remember the work of missionaries. We really try to focus in hearing their stories. That's why we have the mission co ops during the summer, so people can hear the work that's actually taken place on the ground. We have a collection and we, we pray. And that's such an important thing to be united in solidarity with our missions. Because the missionaries, whether they be missions in particular, fields workers through the pontifical missions, workers through the Catholic Near East Welfare association, in a sense, we can feel a connection. They're kind of an extension of us. They're doing the work that is very important to us. That means something.
But, you know, we can't all be out there doing it. And we're so grateful for the courageous people, to use your term, Father Christopher to courageous people who are out there on the front lines and meeting people where they are. We want to be part of that.
[00:26:23] Speaker B: I would also just add that, Bishop, as you mentioned, we're sort of the crossroads here in our diocese of the whole world. So the degrees of separation are few, especially for us here in our diocese. I mean, you know, in my parish, I have people from Venezuela who suffer that which their families are suffering at home. I offer Mass for the Missionaries of Charity who are often thinking and praying for their sisters in Gaza. Those degrees are very minuscule, very minor degrees of separation because of where we are sort of at the crossroads of the world. And so we feel it, we can see it. And when we come together on World Mission Sunday as a diocese, a diocese of the world here in our own few square miles, we're able to really feel that impact as well. And so it's it's a great gift and it's something that we should celebrate. Bishop, as you so we think about all of the priests that have come from other parts of the world, all the people that are here, and to have Brooklyn represented in these.
[00:27:21] Speaker C: How true. And, you know, I often say many of us as priests and bishops, many of the popes throughout the 20th century have a missionary heart. Pope Leo has missionary feet. He's been out there with the boots on the ground. So he made that appeal. He said he asked that every parish should be taking part in Mission Sunday this week to be aware of the work that's done all around the world. And Mancini Bacari has the work of reconstruction as the work of healing takes place, and that's going to be so important, that work of healing takes place, that you do have our prayers and our concern, but we'll do something on a diocesan level, and certainly that will be our contribution to the Catholic Near East Welfare Association. So I hope to do something very soon, because now we've taken a turn, but that turn brings a certain amount of relief, a certain amount of joy, but it also brings a certain amount of responsibility.
[00:28:17] Speaker A: Bill Bishop, thank you. I thank you for that, number one, for the prayers. I thank you also for this opportunity to have this time with you, and I thank you also for whatever support the diocese, which you have already since I've been here. You've already been so generous toward the mission of Kanewa, so I'm grateful for that and grateful for anything that the diocese can do.
[00:28:37] Speaker C: So thank you all for joining us for this week's edition of Big City Catholics, and we look forward to being again next Friday. In the meantime, bless God's blessing upon everyone. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[00:28:50] Speaker A: Amen.
[00:28:50] Speaker C: The Lord be with you and with.
[00:28:52] Speaker B: Us and with your spirit.
[00:28:53] Speaker C: May the Lord bless you and keep you. May his face shine upon you and be gracious to you. May he look upon you with kindness and grant you his peace. And may the blessing of Almighty God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit descend upon you and your families remain with you forever and ever.
[00:29:08] Speaker A: Amen. Amen.
[00:29:09] Speaker B: God bless you all and we'll see you again next week.
