Metropolitan Joseph Hosts Lunch Honoring His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan

On Monday, January 23, 2017, His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph hosted a lunch for thirty people honoring His Eminence Timothy Cardinal Dolan, Roman Catholic Archbishop of New York, at the Archdiocese headquarters in Englewood, NJ. Orthodox and Catholic hierarchs, clergymen, and laymen from the greater New York area were present, including: Metropolitan Tikhon of the Orthodox Church in America (OCA), Maronite Catholic Bishop Gregory Mansour, Syriac Orthodox Bishop Mor Dionysius Jean Kawak, Syriac Catholic Bishop Yousif Habash, Archbishop Mor Titus Yeldo Pathickal of the Malankara Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church in the USA, and Bishop Nicholas of the Antiochian Archdiocese. Prominent laymen including Mr. Fawaz El Khoury, Vice-Chairman of the Archdiocese Board of Trustees, Mr. Adib Kassis, Managing Director of Middle East Airlines, and Mr. John Abi-Habib, owner of MSI Net, Inc. in Brooklyn, NY, were also present along with greater New York area members of the Archdiocese Board of Trustees. (View more photos.)

During the reception and the lunch, a beautiful dialogue took place on ways those present can cooperate to address both the moral issues confronting our country as well as the plight of Christians in the Middle East. In his speech, Metropolitan Joseph offered a warm welcome to Cardinal Dolan, thanking him for his work and concern for the suffering people of the Middle East, especially those who've endured the ongoing war in Syria. He challenged all present to work as a united body before the government, witnessing to the world of our care and deep concern for peace in the region, so that our voices do not go unheard.

Metropolitan Joseph then presented Cardinal Dolan with a jeweled icon of Our Lady of Kazan; Cardinal Dolan also presented the Metropolitan with a pictorial book of the newly renovated St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York. Other hierarchs also spoke and thanked Sayidna Joseph for his hospitality. In the end, all agreed to work together on behalf of the suffering people of the Middle East.