Pontifical Mission for Palestine
| Formation | 1949 |
|---|---|
| Purpose | Relief and development |
| Headquarters | Jerusalem |
Region served | Palestinian Territories Israel Jordan Syria Iraq Lebanon |
President | John E. Kozar |
Vice President | Issam Bishara |
Key people | Ra’ed Bahou (Regional Director for Jordan and Iraq) Issam Bishara (Regional Director for Lebanon and Syria) Sami El-Yousef (Regional Director for Palestine and Israel) Emanuele Latini (Administrator for Rome Office) |
| Affiliations | Catholic Near East Welfare Association |
| Website | Official website |
The Pontifical Mission for Palestine is a special agency of the Holy See, founded by Pope Pius XII in June 1949[1] to assist Palestinian refugees.[2]
The Pontifical Mission became the Holy See's relief and development agency for Israel, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Syria.[1] It is administered by the Catholic Near East Welfare Association, and its headquarters are located in New York City. The Mission has an office in Vatican City, and field offices in Beirut, Jerusalem, and Amman.[2]
The founding president of the Pontifical Mission was Monsignor Thomas McMahon.
On July 16, 1974, Paul VI sent a letter to the President of the Pontifical Mission for Palestine, Monsignor John G. Nolan, where he referred for the first time to the Palestinians, stating:
The work of the Mission for Palestine has been one of the clearest signs of the Holy See's concern for the welfare of the Palestinians, who are particularly dear to us because they are people of the Holy Land, because they include followers of Christ and because they have been and still are being so tragically tried.
We express again our heartfelt sharing in their sufferings and our support for their legitimate aspirations. May our paternal solicitude bring comfort and encouragement, especially to the refugees, who for years have been living under inhuman conditions.
Unfortunately such a state of affairs has produced in many Palestinians a sense of frustration and, in some, such anguish and desperation as to move them to acts of violent protest which with sorrow we have been constrained strenuously to deplore.
It seems to us, nevertheless, that this is the moment for all Palestinians to look to the future with a constructive, like-minded and responsible attitude, as the hope becomes ever stronger that their particular problems will be them will be found during the peace in the Middle East.[3]
As at 2006, the President of the Mission was Archimandrite Robert L. Stern, and the Vice President was Chorbishop John D. Faris.
In June 2011, Monsignor John E. Kozar was appointed by Archbishop Timothy Michael Dolan, the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York, as President of the Catholic Near East Welfare Association and President of the Mission. The appointment was confirmed by Pope Benedict XVI.