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Bishop Abdallah Elias Zaidan of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles is the chairman-elect for the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace. / Screenshot of YouTube video

Baltimore, Md., Nov 20, 2022 / 04:00 am (CNA).

One of the two Maronite Bishops in the United States was elected to lead the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops Committee on International Justice and Peace this past week in Baltimore. 

Bishop Abdallah Elias Zaidan of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles, who originally hails from Lebanon, spoke with CNA after his election about the Church’s role amid the political and economic turmoil in his home country. 

“The Lebanese people are suffering,” said Zaidan, who will serve a term from November 2023 to November 2026. 

“Definitely with all the difficulties Lebanon is facing — and now, Lebanon is somewhat ignored — it’s not a priority for many of the countries, especially with the war in Ukraine and other fronts.” 

The committee’s mission is to advise the U.S. bishops on international issues. Zaidan, who has been a committee member, was chosen as chair over Archbishop Nelson Pérez of Philadelphia by a vote of 148-95. He succeeds Bishop David J. Malloy, of Rockford, Illinois. 

Zaidan listed a plethora of struggles causing instability in the country including its seeming inability to elect a new president, its devalued and inflated currency, and high unemployment rates. 

“Plus, everything is becoming more expensive and employment is very high in Lebanon because of the uncertainty and corruption, and unfortunately you don’t have the basic infrastructure from electricity and other people have to do it on their own,” he said.

“Plus, everything is becoming more expensive. Unemployment is very high in Lebanon because of the uncertainty and corruption,” he said, adding that due to a lack of infrastructure for electricity and other necessities “people have to do it on their own.”

Zaidan said that if Lebanese citizens have family outside the country who can financially support them in small ways “that little hundred dollars makes a big difference for them.”

But, he added, “if they don’t have anybody it’s very difficult and that’s why people would like to leave.”

Despite the many unfortunate circumstances burdening the Lebanese people, Zaidan said that the Church in Lebanon is doing whatever it can to be close to the suffering people. He praised the work of Caritas Internationalis, the church’s humanitarian arm, in using its resources to keep people alive.

“Often the priest is what we call the main person you go to because he knows his people. He knows who are the needy, who don’t have any other one to help them,” he said. 

Zaidan said that many priests are calling their bishops and taking the initiative to assist their flock.

He said he wanted to send a message of thanks to the parish priest in Lebanon and to “commend him for standing with his people and being part of that and serving them with all the difficulties going through himself and to stay there and do his best for his people.”

Zaidan also urged “everybody here and wherever they are to first keep Lebanon in your mind. Keep our brothers and sisters in your mind, in your prayers, and whatever you could spare here could make a big difference in Lebanon,” he said.

Zaidan said that Christ is closest to the people who are suffering and needy. 

“We need to know [that] anyone who’s in need, whatever you do to the least of my brothers and sisters, you’ve done it to me, Christ told us,” he said. Zaidan said that there are many inspiring stories about people who are in need, and who assist someone who is in a worse situation than they are. 

“It’s amazing,” he said. 

Zaidan said that the Maronites in Lebanon played a significant role in making Lebanon a great country. He said that Maronite Patriarch Elias Hoyaek de Helta who served from 1898-1931 “was instrumental in making Lebanon great as in its own borders today.”

Zaidan said that it’s important for Lebanon to be a “beacon of hope” and a “haven” for Christians in the Middle East. 

“Lebanon, as John Paull II said, is a message between the East and the West, between the Christians and the Muslim — and also among the Christians — between the Catholics and Orthodox, as well.

“It’s a unique mission from that perspective,” he said. 

Zaidan said that many Lebanese migrated to the United States over the past hundred years.

“We always think about Lebanon as the mother church and the branches who are spread all over the world and are present in different parts of the world,” he said. 

“Hopefully, we could bear fruits and let the mother church enjoy some of those fruits as well,” Zaidan said.

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Sacramento, Calif., Apr 5, 2019 / 03:01 pm (CNA).- A 2014 California rule forcing religious groups, including churches, to cover elective abortions for employees was the result of direct pressure from Planned Parenthood, internal emails have shown.
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Bishop David O’Connell of the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey. / Credit: Courtesy of the Diocese of Trenton

CNA Newsroom, Jan 5, 2024 / 13:05 pm (CNA).

Bishop David M. O’Connell of the Diocese of Trenton, New Jersey, is recovering in a hospital in Rome after suffering a heart attack Thursday, the diocese said. 

“He was taken to Santo Spirito hospital where he had surgery to open a completely closed artery,” the diocese said in a written statement Friday. “… Bishop O’Connell is resting comfortably after a successful surgery. He asks that you keep him in your prayers as he recovers.” 

O’Connell, 68, was in Italy to lead a pilgrimage of 20 priests and two members of the diocese’s staff to holy sites in Rome and Assisi. The pilgrimage was due to start Friday. 

The pilgrims are planning to attend a Mass with Pope Francis at St. Peter’s Basilica on Saturday celebrating the solemnity of the Epiphany as well as Masses at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls and the Basilica of St. Mary Major, which are also in Rome. 

In Assisi, the itinerary includes visits to three basilicas: St. Mary of the Angels, St. Francis, and St. Clare. It also includes a visit to the Church of St. Mary Major to see the tomb of Blessed Carlo Acutis (1991–2006), the Italian teenager who created a website documenting Eucharistic miracles and who helped his classmates and parents connect with the Catholic faith, according to TrentonMonitor.com, the diocese’s news website. 

On Tuesday, O’Connell prayed at the tomb of Pope Benedict XVI, who appointed him a bishop. On Wednesday, O’Connell attended a general audience of Pope Francis at the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall, where he greeted the pope twice, according to TrentonMonitor.com.

O’Connell is a member of the Congregation of the Mission, which is more commonly known as the Vincentians, after its founder, St. Vincent de Paul. 

He shares the same first and last name with Bishop David G. O’Connell (1953–2023), an auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles who was shot to death in his home in February 2023. 

O’Connell has a doctorate in canon law from The Catholic University of America, where he later served as president from 1998 to 2010. He has served as bishop of Trenton, which covers four counties in central New Jersey, since 2010.

He has suffered from health problems. In December 2014, O’Connell had the lower part of his left leg amputated because of recurring infections caused by diabetes. After physical therapy, he returned in April 2015 to celebrate Mass on Palm Sunday at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption in Trenton.

In November 2023, he was elected chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Catholic Education, which provides guidance for Catholic elementary schools, secondary schools, and colleges. The committee also, according to the bishops’ conference’s website, “advocates for federal public policies in education that are consistent with Catholic values and that uphold parental rights and responsibilities regarding education.”

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