CNA Staff, Feb 7, 2024 / 11:15 am
The head of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) said a recent visit to the Holy Land showed him a region wrought by violent chaos yet filled with people with hope and resilience.
Sean Callahan, the president and CEO of the Catholic aid group, told CNA this week that in a recent trip to the Middle East, he met with numerous partners in CRS’ global relief missions, including multiple Middle Eastern chapters of Caritas, the international confederation of Catholic aid groups.
Callahan said bluntly that the situation in the region is “catastrophic.” Yet he said the team witnessed considerable “resiliency” and “hope” from the local population.
Recalling an incident in which his team stayed with a family that included five small children, he said that at one point one of the children “came up and asked his dad: ‘We’re only children, why are they trying to kill us?’”