Yesterday he visited “a magnificent center” run by religious sisters who take in abandoned babies.
“And they said to me, every time we get a new baby on our doorstep … we feel that it’s Christmas all over again, as another one of God’s children is born,” Dolan recalled in the video.
For the April 12–18 trip, Dolan planned to meet with local religious leaders and visit social service and humanitarian organizations, according to an Archdiocese of New York April 3 press release.
Dolan began the visit with a Shabbat dinner with Rabbi Noam Marans of the American Jewish Committee, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, and Monsignor Peter Vaccari, who heads CNEWA.
After the Iranian attack, Dolan met with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian National Authority, on Sunday.
The trip marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Pontifical Mission for Palestine by Pope Pius XII in 1949.
The trip was planned before the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks, but Dolan made plans to meet with the families of the hostages currently being held by Hamas as well as with Israeli and Palestinian human rights groups, according to the release.
Kate Quiñones is a staff writer for Catholic News Agency and a fellow of the College Fix. She has been published by the Wall Street Journal, the Denver Catholic Register, and CatholicVote, and she graduated from Hillsdale College. She lives in Colorado with her husband.