Vatican’s Congregation for the
Eastern Churches sets up coronavirus fund
 |
| Orthodox Holy Fire ceremony in Jerusalem on April 18, 2020 (ANSA) |
The Congregation for the Eastern Churches, in collaboration
with Catholic aid agencies working in the Holy, has created a fund to meet the
challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic.
By Vatican News
The Vatican’s Congregation for the Eastern Churches (CEC)
has set up the “Fondo Emergenza CEC”, an emergency coronavirus fund, in
response to the invitation of Pope Francis not to abandon the suffering,
especially the poorest, in facing the global crisis caused by the pandemic.
In a press release on Saturday, the CEC said that the
initiative comes on the eve of the feast of Divine Mercy, and as many
Christians of the Eastern Churches who follow the Julian calendar, are
currently observing in their Holy Week, commemorating the passion, death and
resurrection of Jesus.
The fund has been created with the active collaboration of
the international and local offices of the Catholic Near East Welfare
Association (CNEWA) and the Pontifical Mission for Palestine (PMP), in constant
touch with the agencies of the “Riunione Opere Aiuto Chiese Orientali” (ROACO),
or “Reunion of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches”.
The Congregation said that they are able to support some
relief efforts, drawing also from the Collection for the Holy Land, which was
scheduled for Good Friday, April 10, but has been postponed to 13 September because
of the pandemic.
The Collection for the Holy Land normally guarantees
subsidies for the life of the Churches in the East.
The CEC said that the Dicastery for the Promotion of
Integral Human Development and the General Secretariat of Caritas Internationalis
will be kept informed of every intervention.
On the suggestions of the Apostolic Nunciatures, the
following donations were immediately dispatched on behalf of the Holy
Father:
SYRIA: 10 ventilators, in collaboration with AVSI, an
NGO, to be shared by three centres of the “Open Hospitals” project.
HOLY LAND: 3 ventilators for St Joseph’s Hospital in
Jerusalem, the purchase and supply of diagnostic kits for Gaza and an
extraordinary contribution for the work of the Holy Family Hospital in
Bethlehem.
Other proposals from other countries are being studied.
Despite the economic uncertainty, the Congregation is
assuring its annual aid to schools and Catholic universities, as well as
assistance to the displaced in Syria and Iraq and the refugees in Lebanon and
Jordan. This will be carried out in collaboration with the Catholic
agencies of ROACO.
The Congregation for the Eastern Churches urged prayers that
humanity be freed of the evils afflicting humanity, and the Church joins others
in genuine solidarity and fraternal love.
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét