Farewell to the Fearless Good Samaritan

7/20/2020 Gmail - Farewell to the fearless Good Samaritan

Saint Bernadette's RC Church

Farewell to the fearless Good Samaritan 1 message

Aid to the Church in Need Fri, Jul 17, 2020 at 5:59 PM Reply-To: Aid to the Church in Need To: Saint Bernadettes

Image: Father Andrzej Halemba (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)

A priest, who is retiring from a ACN after 14 years risking his life to bring aid to the Church in need, has been named a modern-day Good Samaritan by Iraq’s most senior Christian leader.

Monsignor Andrzej Halemba served as Aid to the Church in Need projects coordinator for Asia-Africa, covering hot spots including Syria, Iraq and Eritrea – countries across the Middle East and parts of South Asia.

Chaldean Catholic Patriarch Louis Cardinal Raphael I Sako of Baghdad honoured the 65-year-old Pole with the title Chorbishop, equivalent to Monsignor in the Western (Latin) Church.

Describing the Monsignor as “the Good Samaritan of today”, Patriarch Sako said Mgr Halemba “was always present with us, https://mail.google.com/mail/b/ALGkd0zha0VYvxC-gJ7xPiFditNNU0aEXMKHchLz34-fWPH5O732/u/0?ik=ae4a575cbb&view=pt&search=all&per… 1/4 7/20/2020 Gmail - Farewell to the fearless Good Samaritan building housing caravans for the displaced, polyclinics and schools and everything.”

ACN (UK) Head of Press and Information John Pontifex, who travelled with him extensively in the Middle East and Pakistan, said: “In every respect, Mgr Halemba has made a huge impact – his capacity for work is matched only by his unfailing compassion for those he serves.”

Mgr Halemba, who stressed that he was always inspired by Father Werenfried van Straaten, the founder of ACN, said:

“What always needs to be stressed is the spiritual character of ACN as we can never become a secular, humanitarian agency.”