When Carl Hétu was a teenager growing up in Quebec, he recalls a conversation he had with his father that helped shape the man he would become. 

At Mass a few weeks ago, I heard an unusual noise coming from the entrance of the church. Without thinking, I turned and found myself fearing the worst. An attack? After Mass I asked others if they felt the same way and, to my surprise, some did. 

The Christian crisis in the Middle East will continue to absorb much of the time and money raised by the Catholic Near East Welfare Association in Canada, CNEWA-Canada executive director Carl Hetu told The Catholic Register.

From zero to $4.3 million annually in just 12 years is part of the remarkable success story that is CNEWA Canada.

OTTAWA – As the Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) marks its 90th anniversary this year, CNEWA Canada celebrates 12 years.

OTTAWA – A ceasefire in war-torn Syria has not eased the humanitarian crisis, according to Catholic aid organizations in the region.

OTTAWA – The Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) Canada has renewed its emergency appeal for funds to help children remain in school in drought-stricken Ethiopia.

TORONTO – When it comes to charitable giving, Carl Hetu believes there is a need to be focused both locally and internationally.

During recent travels in Beirut I met Kamal and his family, Syrian-Armenian Christian refugees. They told a harrowing tale.

Another $100 million in federal government aid to Syrian refugees fleeing their nation’s civil war brings Canada’s spending on the refugee crisis so far to nearly $1 billion. But a dollar-for-dollar matching fund open until Dec. 31 with approved charities is certain to push Canada’s aid to the region well past that mark.

MONTREAL - For two prominent Catholic agencies based in Canada, the new Liberal government's decision to stop air strikes against Islamic State positions in the Middle East begs the question: How should Canada act in that region?

OTTAWA - For the first time, several Catholic aid agencies are joining with the Canadian bishops to mount a joint appeal to raise funds to help Syrian refugees.

Four years into Syria’s civil war, Canada’s Catholic development agency is petitioning Ottawa for more aid, Canadian diplomatic contributions to a peace plan and stronger efforts to choke off the money that keeps both the Assad regime and ISIS fighting.

OTTAWA - Iraq’s once-thriving Christian community has been reduced by 85 per cent in the past decade and is still “on the run,” Carl Hetu told the House of Commons foreign affairs committee. 

OTTAWA - The Catholic Near East Welfare Association of Canada has received a $226,630 grant from the federal Office for Religious Freedom to combat religious persecution in parts of Ukraine.