Former Uniontown pastor new chair of Catholic Relief Services
Bishop Gregory John Mansour, who formerly pastored a Maronite Catholic church in Uniontown, is the new chairman of the board of directors for Catholic Relief Services, the international humanitarian agency of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
“It’s such a great mission,” said Mansour, 61, speaking by phone from his office in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he has served as bishop of the Maronite Catholic Eparchy of St. Maron since 2004. “Catholic Relief Services is the arm of the Catholic Church to reach the poor throughout the world in 100 different countries — countries where there are very few Catholics and countries where there are many Catholics. The idea is to bring a little love into the world.”
Mansour is the spiritual leader of the eparchy, which consists of 16 states, including Pennsylvania, and the District of Columbia. The Maronite Catholic Church is in full communion with the pope but is headed by Patriarch Bechara Peter Rai in Lebanon. The USCCB reported in a press release announcing Mansour’s three-year appointment that the Maronite Catholic Church is one of the largest Eastern Catholic churches in the world with more than 3.3 members.
A native of Flint, Michigan, who was ordained to the priesthood in 1982, Mansour took on his first role as pastor at St. George Maronite Catholic Church in Uniontown, where he served from 1983 to 1994. He continues to visit St. George, traveling to Uniontown last April to consecrate the altar and bless $1.1 million renovations that enhanced all aspects of parish life.
Mansour also appeared in the district in March as a guest lecturer for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Greensburg’s observance of the Jubilee Year of Mercy to talk about the plight of Christians in the Middle East. A member of the Catholic Relief Services board for the past four years, Mansour “is actively involved with promoting peace and justice in the Middle East,” noted the USSCB in its press release.
In fact, Mansour believes the U.S. Catholic Bishops’ interest in his work led to this appointment.
“I think that’s why I was asked. I think the Catholic bishops wanted to give more emphasis to what’s going on in the Middle East,” Mansour said.
Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, president of USCCB, noted in the press release, “Bishop Mansour’s long-standing service in every area of the work of CRS is completed by his pastoral concern for the humanitarian efforts of CRS in the Middle East and on behalf of persecuted Christians.”
CRS’ efforts in the Middle East include caring for internally displayed people and refugees.
Mansour is proud of the work of Catholic service work in the Middle East, calling it “a beautiful story of cooperation.”
He also advocated for the United States to declare that ISIS was committing genocide in the Middle East. The United States took this step last spring.
“That helps a great deal,” said Mansour, noting, “It’s not Muslims against Christians. It’s Muslims and Christians against these terrorist groups.”
Founded in 1943 and headquartered in Baltimore, Catholic Relief Services is one of 165 Caritas organizations in the world, explained Mansour. He said the Caritas organizations operate under the umbrella of the Catholic Church. Their name is Latin for love.
The CRS website explains it works with organizations around the world “responding to major emergencies, fighting disease and poverty, and nurturing peaceful and just societies.”
Mansour said CRS uses creative efforts to help people. As an example, he used a family living in Central America that is now able to operate its own business growing cocoa trees. CRS helps them find the right soil and seeds, grow other trees for shade and market their goods.
“It’s creative innovative ways, using American ingenuity and Catholic generosity to serve the poor. It’s a wonderful program,” said Mansour.
He talked about a CRS safety net program for children in Africa that partners with government, schools, parents and social workers to provide support for students.
In his role as chairman, Mansour explained he will oversee the work of an agency that includes 5,000 employees and hundreds of thousands of volunteers.
Mansour is already well traveled in the Middle East but will also journey to other parts of the world in his new position. He expects to take trips in 2017 to Uganda and South America as well as Lebanon. In his new role, Mansour will also attend gatherings of bishops in Africa, South American and Asia.
Mansour noted that the charitable works of the Catholic Church throughout the world don’t take into consideration nationality, skin color or faith.
He said, “We just serve.”