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Newsletter: Winter Issue 2007

From the President's Desk . . .

Dear friends of Path to Peace Foundation,

The winter edition of our Newsletter comes to you along with Advent and Christmas. In the midst of the seasonal darkness and cold, comes the resplendent announcement of the coming of Christ, the light of all peoples. A light that is warm, penetrating, enveloping, creative, that has acted in the hearts of individuals and of societies throughout its two thousand year  history.

Christ, light of all peoples, that is the reason and essence of the work of the Holy See Mission among the peoples represented at the United Nations. 

Several spontaneous questions arise: In what sense is Christ still the Light of the peoples today? What point has the universal journey of the peoples toward God reached? Is it in a phase of progress or  regression?

We are preparing for the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the United Nations, in April 2008. He will come with his recently expressed deep conviction that today, it is more necessary than ever to flank the leaders of nations and researchers and scientists with the leaders of the great non-Christian religious traditions, inviting them to face one another with the light of Christ, who came not to abolish but to bring to fulfillment what God's hand has written in the religious history of civilization.

Your prayers and support are requested for the success of this Papal visit.

Merry Christmas and happy New Year!

Sincerely,

+ Celestino Migliore

Thanks to your generous cooperation,

the Path to Peace Foundation along with

the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations

was able to organize the following:

GLOBAL HEALTH

The Holy See Mission, together with the Path to Peace Foundation, co-sponsored a side event at the opening of the 62^nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly entitled: Global Health in Focus.  The side event took place on September 25 at Holy Family Church Hall. Representatives from the University of Notre Dame and Purdue University described their respective university’s ongoing projects and planned initiatives to harness the energy and expertise to promote global health. In particular, they presented to UN directors and governmental delegations handy, effective and affordable HIV/AIDS testing, malaria control methods, and best practices of efficient health care in Africa.

POPULORUM PROGRESSIO

The 40^th anniversary of Pope Paul VI’s Encyclical, Populorum Progressio- “On the Development of Peoples,”  was commemorated at a side event on October 17, at the UN. Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, Archbishop of Dublin and former Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva, in his keynote introduction, highlighted the impact it has had to date as well as the prophetic motto inspired by the Encyclical: “Development is the new name for peace.” The side event was extremely well attended and the following Q&A session was quite lively and productive.

CONFERENCE ON AGEING

A side event on aging is being planned for the spring of 2008. As our population is getting increasingly older, a number of aging Americans are challenged by the scourge of poverty. This conference will attempt to shed some light on this urgent and relevant topic.

Activity of the Holy See Mission at the United Nations: 

PROJECTS

Holy Land: A donation by the Path to Peace Foundation was made to the Holy Family Hospital of Bethlehem Foundation. The Bethlehem region has neither a social welfare system nor available health insurance and many women and children live in the most desperate conditions. Holy Family  Hospital is the only maternity facility in the West Bank that opens its doors to everyone, regardless of national origin, religion, or ability to pay.

China: A donation in the amount of $20,000 was sent to Bishop Peter Xinmao Feng, Bishop of Hengshui, China, to help with the professors’ salaries who teach in the minor seminary of Hengshui.

PRAYER SERVICE

The annual prayer service on the eve of the opening of the General Assembly took place on September 17 at the Church of the Holy Family. The prayer service included Cardinal Edward Egan, Archbishop Migliore and various religious leaders from different faith traditions. This event, the most well attended in its history, also marked the first time that the new Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon addressed the assembly. In his remarks the Secretary-General said “I want you to pray for the United Nations… that whatever challenges and crises confront us in the year ahead, that we will be as effective as we can be… and have the strength and the courage to always do our best.”

62nd SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY

Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, Secretary for Relations with States of the Holy See, participated in the general debate of the 62^nd Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations. On October 4 and 5 he addressed the High Level Dialogue on Intercultural and Interreligious Understanding. While in NYC he maintained a busy agenda of multilateral and bilateral meetings, witnessing to the solicitude of the Holy Father for peace and well-being in the world.

On September 24, Msgr. Pietro Parolin, Undersecretary for Relations with States of the Holy See, represented the Holy See in the High Level event on climate change.

NEW INTERNS

This September we welcomed two new interns, Lisa P. Harper and Dan Schafer. Both Lisa and Dan are graduates of the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis, MN. Lisa is an attorney and Dan majored in Catholic Studies and 20^th Century World History.

GALA DINNER 2008

Please save the date of Tuesday, June 10, 2008 for our annual Path to Peace Gala Dinner. The dinner will be held once again at the United Nations. Please plan to attend and encourage your friends to join us for a memorable evening.

HELP OUR TAB, BUY A SLAB

In mid-June an unfortunate incident happened when a granite slab from the façade of our building fell from the top story. Thank God no one was hurt. It was determined that the mechanism used to fasten the panels had rotted and the other panels were also in danger of falling. Subsequently, all the panels have been removed and need to be reset. The cost for this project is $100,000. We are looking for 100 people who could donate $1,000 a piece to help pay our tab. Please consider making a donation online or by sending a check to our address.

Donating to the Path to Peace Foundation is now only a click away. To

donate online please go to http://www.thepathtopeacefoundation.org/support_us.html

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