The HCEF will name the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati as the recipient of the 2008 Living Stones Solidarity Award, in recognition of the archdiocese’s extraordinary support of the Christian presence in the land of Christ’s birth. The HCEF Living Stones Award was established to honor institutions that demonstrate their determination to preserve the living stones in the cradle of Christianity.
The Board of Directors of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation has announced its unanimous vote to name the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati as the recipient of the 2008 Living Stones Solidarity Award, in recognition of the archdiocese’s consistent and significant support of the Christian presence in the land of Christ’s birth.
The HCEF Living Stones Award was established to honor institutions that, through sustained and extraordinary solidarity with Christians of the Holy Land, demonstrate their determination to preserve the living stones (native Christians of the Holy Land) in the cradle of Christianity.
The Cincinnati archdiocese’s contributions of funds, time and resources, frequently channeled through HCEF itself, have made a significant difference in the lives of innumerable Palestinian Christians. For many years, Cincinnati Catholics have given strong support to the foundation’s Child Sponsorship Program, Holy Land Gifts Program, and Pilgrimage and Fact Finding Missions.
In addition, the Cincinnati archdiocese’s Mission Appeal program has in recent years greatly benefited HCEF in its efforts to bring hope, security and human dignity to Christians in the Holy Land.
Catholics of the archdiocese have demonstrated solidarity with the ‘living stones’ by opening their churches, homes and hearts to Palestinian Christian students and other visitors. They regularly support HCEF’s Child Sponsorship Program, embark on multiple Holy Land pilgrimages and are developing two parish partnerships with Christians in the Holy Land. In the course of this work, the Cincinnati archdiocese has welcomed four groups of Arab Christian 8th-graders through the Children’s Peace Project, a program that the HCEF initiated to make a more personal connection between Western Christians and the Holy Land Christians. In 2006, Archbishop Pilarczyk hosted then Archbishop Fouad Twal during his visit to Cincinnati. Last June, Twal was installed as the Latin (Catholic) Patriarch of Jerusalem by His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI.
HCEF President Sir Rateb Rabie has invited Most Reverend Daniel E. Pilarczyk, the Catholic Archbishop of Cincinnati, to receive the award at the HCEF’s Tenth International Conference Awards Banquet on Friday October 24, 2008. Receiving the award in his stead will be Father Rob Waller, the pastor of St. Andrew Catholic Church in Milford, OH. In 2007, Father Waller received the HCEF Award, which is given to individuals who have shown extraordinary commitment to peace, justice and well-being for the Christians of the Holy Land. Father Waller has supported numerous HCEF programs designed to provide moral, spiritual and financial support to Christians of all denominations in Palestine, Israel and Jordan.
The Living Stones Solidarity Award will be presented at HCEF’s Tenth International Conference Awards Banquet on the evening of Friday, October 24, 2008 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Bethesda, MD.
For more information, please visit these helpful links:
Conference Registration (https://www.hcef.org/index.cfm/ID/466.cfm)
2008 Award Recipients (https://www.hcef.org/index.cfm/ID/511.cfm)
Hotel Accommodations (https://www.hcef.org/index.cfm/ID/510.cfm)
Endorsement Letters (https://www.hcef.org/index.cfm/ID/515.cfm)
Be a Sponsor (https://www.hcef.org/index.cfm/ID/456.cfm)
Place an Ad (https://www.hcef.org/index.cfm/ID/462.cfm)
Donate a Gift to the Silent Auction (https://www.hcef.org/publicfiles/conference/Donati onForm10.pdf)
