Investment banker and philanthropist John Studzinski received the Faith & Culture Award from the Catholic New East Welfare Association (CNEWA) at its annual Healing & Hope Gala Dinner.
Hosted at a private club in New York City on 5 December, the dinner saw Studzinski presented the award in recognition of his “commitment to promoting the innate dignity of every child of God”, CNEWA said.
“As a devout Catholic, my faith has a fundamental influence on my daily life, whether it’s professional, personal or relating to a charitable initiative,” Studzinski said on receiving the award. “It is truly an honour to accept this award in recognition of my work with survivors of trafficking and human slavery, with the homeless and supporting other marginalised people.”
Studzinski is co-founder of the Arise Foundation, which works with groups—typically on the ground, and often comprising religious sisters—fighting trafficking head-on and caring for survivors, as well as forming community leaders to address trafficking at local levels. He is also co-founder of The Passage, which confronts homelessness, and of the Genesis Foundation, which nurtures the careers of young artists.
Guests included Catholic Herald chairman Christopher F Brown, Catholic Herald Institute (CHI) CEO Mark Ackermann, CHI chair Amanda Bowman (also chair of CNEWA’s Healing & Hope gala), US Special Projects Editor Jamie MacGuire and Michael La Civita, co-chairman of the gala dinner. Cardinal Timothy Dolan presented Studzinski with the award.
CNEWA also recognized Good Shepherd Sister Marie Claude Naddaf as its guest of honour. An advocate for vulnerable women of all ages since she first entered religious life in her native Syria at the age of 17, she has worked tirelessly to uphold their rights throughout the Middle East.
Amanda Bowman said that “CNEWA’s work to combat trafficking is part of the Catholic Church’s unwavering and consistent call for the end of all forms of trafficking, slavery, prostitution, inhuman working conditions and any factor violating the dignity of all human persons.”
Cardinal Dolan underlined CNEWA’s role in the fight against human trafficking in various regions around the world. “The great thing is, folks, we’re there already,” added Cardinal Dolan. “We don’t have to parachute in. We don’t have to take airplanes over there. CNEWA’s already on the ground.”
CNEWA president Msgr. Peter Vaccari said: ‘Our annual dinner presents the opportunity to invite our guests to join us in the cultivation and building of relationships, partnerships and networks as instruments of hope’.
The gala, CNEWA’s second, raised more than $467,000 in support of its lifesaving programs. An agency of the Holy See, CNEWA works in tandem with the Eastern churches in the Middle East, Northeast Africa, India and Eastern Europe; and among its charitable work has fought human trafficking in various regions around the world.
