Catholic World News News Feature

Pope commends aid to Eastern Catholic churches June 24, 2004

Pope John Paul II met on June 24 with participants in the annual Meeting of Aid Agencies for the Oriental Churches (ROACO), and encouraged them to persevere in their support for Eastern Christians.

The Holy Father noted that Eastern Christianity has been torn by "serious trials due to current conflicts, terrorism and other difficulties." He thanked the donors and activists who work to serve the needs of an embattled community.

The Pope offers special thanks to ROACO for its aid to Christians in Iraq, and for providing support to the Byzantine-rite Romanian Catholic community. And he offered a special prayer for the Christians of the Holy Land, noting that the traditional Good Friday collection for their needs is a sign of "the previous service of solidarity with those most in need."

The Pope met with about 70 ROACO participants in the Clementine room of the apostolic palace. They were led by Cardinal Ignace Moussa I Daoud, the prefect for the Congregation for the Eastern Churches. Other participants included Archbishop Jean-Claude Perisset, the papal nuncio in Romania; and Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the new Franciscan Custos of the Holy Land.

The meeting took place under the auspices of the Congregation for the Eastern Churches, which supervises the work of ROACO. The Pope commended the work of the Congregation in sustaining the Eastern Catholic churches. He called attention to the urgent need for more seminaries and houses of formation to prepare the clergy and religious of the Eastern rites.