One of Catholic University’s most cherished Christmas traditions, the Christmas Concert for Charity, not only brings the campus and EWTN viewers joy from the music – it changes lives.
A free-will offering taken up during the performance by students from the Benjamin T. Rome School for Performing Arts is donated to a different charity each year. This past Christmas, more than $15,500 was sent to Holy Family Catholic parish in Gaza. This is the only Roman Catholic parish in the region.
In a message to University President Peter Kilpatrick after the funds were delivered, George Akroush, project coordinator for the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, wrote: “I wish to thank you once again, from the heart, for your care, your closeness, and your continued support to the Church and the people of the Holy Land.”
Akroush wrote: “The Christian communities of Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem are facing unprecedented and prolonged challenges that threaten not only livelihoods but [also] the very fabric of community life and Christian presence in the land where Christ was born….
“Families endure harsh winter conditions in improvised shelters, with flooding made worse by Gaza’s coastal geography and the total collapse of infrastructure. Electricity, sanitation, and clean water remain scarce. Among the more than 170 Christian families currently sheltering in our convent, only 15 found their homes still standing after the war, and even those homes are uninhabitable due to the absence of basic services.”
