Annual spring meeting of the Eastern Catholic Associates (ECA)
From Monday, March 17 to 19, 2026 the annual spring meeting of the Eastern Catholic Associates (ECA) — the bishops of the Eastern Catholic churches of the United States — was held in St. Louis, MO. Following a long-standing tradition, the meeting was hosted by Bishop Elias Zaidan of the Maronite Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon at the Maronite Catholic Pastoral Center, located next to the Maronite Cathedral of St. Raymond in downtown St. Louis.
Besides regular administrative matters, other topics of common interest to the Eastern churches of the United States were addressed during the meeting:
Rev. Daniel Dozier, the Director of the Eastern Catholic Conference of Eparchial Directors of Religious Education (ECED), along with ECED Business Manager, Amanda Singel, reported on the activities of the ECED during the past year and reported on the recently launched Catechetical Certificate Program in partnership with the Catechetical Institute of Franciscan University in Steubenville, OH. The ECED is the publishing arm of the ECA, which prints and distributes religious and catechetical literature for our parishes.
Dr. Julia McStravog, Senior Advisor at the USCCB for the Synod on Synodality in the Catholic Church joined the bishops via Zoom for a question and answer session and a fruitful dialogue regarding the Implementation Stage of the Synod. Following this, a second Zoom session was held with Chorbishop John Faris, who shared his personal experience as a member of Study Group 1 of the Papal Synod, which focussed on the relationship of the Eastern Catholic Churches in the diaspora with the Roman Catholic Church.
Msgr. Peter Vaccari, President of CNEWA — the Catholic Near East Welfare Association — gave presentation to the bishops. This Catholic organization, dedicated to aid the suffering Catholic faithful in war torn and poverty stricken areas of the world, is celebrating its 100th year of existence this year.
On Tuesday evening, the bishops had the opportunity to pray the Maronite Divine Liturgy (Holy Qurbana), celebrated by Bishop Elias Zaidan in the chapel of the pastoral center. A tasty supper followed at which we were joined by Roman Catholic Archbishop of St. Louis, Most. Rev. Mitchell Rozanski.
The meeting reconvened on Wednesday morning with an informative presentation given by Bryan Enriquez, one of the founders of the Hallow app. This is a Catholic prayer app created to help people, in this post-literate age, to discover the peace of God through online prayer.
During our annual meeting the bishops had made it a tradition to learn more about our sister Churches. This year, Bishop Joy Alappat of the Syro-Malabar Church in the United States and Canada, gave a presentation on the history, spirituality and current situation of the Syro-Malabar Church in India and the United States.
Time was also devoted, as every year, to reports on the struggles, challenges and even persecution being faced by the faithful in the ancestral homelands of our Churches, some of which are currently suffering wars and violence. The Russian invasion of Ukraine has stretched into its fifth year and the Middle East has continued to be a powder keg of unrest and violence. In response to unsettling events, the bishops published a short letter underling our continuing solidarity with our suffering faithful in the war zones of the world entitled: “A Cry For Peace and Justice from the Eastern Catholic Bishops of the United States”.
The spring meeting concluded with a fraternal and tasty Lebanese luncheon prepared by the parishioners of St. Raymond Maronite Cathedral, in the cathedral hall next to the pastoral center.
www.stamforddio.org
