Catholic Near East Welfare Association

The Catholic Near East Welfare Association (abbreviated CNEWA, pronounced "k-NAY-wah" ) is a papal agency established in 1926 and dedicated to giving pastoral and humanitarian support to Northeast Africa, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and India. CNEWA operates specifically in areas of concentrated mass poverty, war, and displacement, providing human dignity and addressing basic needs for vulnerable populations. As a Catholic organization CNEWA utilizes the network of Eastern Catholic Churches and devoted religious sisters to provide the most effective and holistic humanitarian support regardless of creed or religious affiliation. As sisters with CNEWA have stated, "We don't help people because they're Christian. We help [them] because we are."

CNEWA's regional offices employ locals who collaborate with local churches and Christian institutions to identify needs and implement solutions as a means of 'working from the ground up.' CNEWA has held a presence in areas that have been recently volatile, such as Syria, Iraq and Palestine, and its operations respond rapidly to the constantly-shifting needs of the people. CNEWA provides 86.9% of its funds raised for programmatic support.

In June 2011, Monsignor John E. Kozar was appointed President of CNEWA and the Pontifical Mission for Palestine by Archbishop Timothy Michael Dolan, the President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops and Archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York. The appointment was confirmed by Pope Benedict XVI in September 2011. Kozar retired in June 2020 and was succeeded by Msgr. Peter Vaccari, as president of CNEWA/PMP. The headquarters of CNEWA are in New York City. Provided by Wikipedia