Fr. John has continued to make slow but steady progress in his recovery since our last report. He is now talking and still undergoing physiotherapy in Bethlehem. Should there be any substantial change in his progress we will be sure to update you.
Please continue to include Fr. John in your prayers, if you would like to support him during his recovery you can write to him. He benefits greatly from messages sent to him at this time. His address is:
Fr. John Sansour
C/o Latin Patriarchate
P.O. Box 14152
Jerusalem 91141
Israel
The Canadian forces currently serving in Afghanistan come to Cyprus prior to returning home for a short stay to readjust in what is termed ‘Decompression’. They are located at the Azia Resort and Spa in Paphos.
Senior Officers and Padres do sometimes take time out to meet for a simple lunch at the Sienna restaurant situated close to the Azia. During one of these lunch times Padre Larry Wright asked Julie the Restaurant Manager if she knew of a charity that they could support.
As it happens Julie is the neighbour of David McKewan and she knew of his involvement with Saint Michael’s Hospice Charity! On hearing this Padre Larry agreed that this would be very worth while cause to support. A meeting was arranged with the Commanding Officer, the Deputy Commanding Officer, two Padres’ and David to confirm details. Soldiers leaving Cyprus and flying home to Canada would be invited to deposit any ‘Change for Charity’ into collection boxes.
David Receives Donation
Shortly afterwards Padre Larry Wright called to advise that he had some monies for us to collect. David and Treasurer Kathy Newbury received an envelope containing €1500! A short time later a second envelope was received containing another €1500!! Then a further amount of €1300 plus some other convertible currencies was received.
On behalf of Saint Michaels Hospice Charity, many thanks to the Canadian Forces Joint Task Force Afghanistan Roto 8, Third Location Decompression Centre Officers and Soldiers for choosing our Charity and for being so generous in their donations.
We have launched a “Kilometre of Euro’s” campaign to assist with the completion of the hospice building project.
The campaign will consist of a collection day throughout Paphos and its environs culminating at Paphos harbour where residents and visitors will be encouraged to add just €1 towards a Kilometre of Euro’s
Collection day will be the the 12th June culminating at Paphos Harbour in the afternoon
Fr. John Sansour
Several people have contacted the website eager to know of Fr. John’s progress since his stroke. So from now on we will be posting at least weekly updates on his progress.
After his stroke he was cared for in Paphos until he was stable enough to be moved, this took a few weeks as we all know recovery from a stroke can be a slow progress especially in the early days. We are happy to say that point of stability was reached and he has been removed to care in Jerusalem, where he is being well looked after until his return to Paphos.
The latest information we have is that he is undergoing regular physiotherapy and making steady progress. It is also good to hear that his speech is now returning and he is able to communicate again, which was a worry at first however it is known from experience that speech can be one of the last things to return.
We would like to thank you all for your prayers for Fr. John and together we look forward to his return to the parish.
God Bless.
To help make it easier to promote the St. Michaels Hospice, we have produced a Flier which can be downloaded and printed out. This informative Flier will help answer some of the many questions people have about the hospice.
Please use this flier to help spread the word. Please go to Hospice Flier in the Menu.
Pope Benedict XVI
Pope Benedict XVI will visit the Republic of Cyprus in 2010. Pope Benedict XVI, accepted the invitation extended to him by the President of the Republic, Mr. Demetris Christofias, during his visit to the Vatican, last March (27 March 2009).
He will be the first Pope in modern history to set foot on the island.
The Delegate to the Holy See of the Franciscan Custody of the Holy Land, Franciscan Father David Maria Jaeger placed the visit in the broader context of the upcoming Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for the Holy Land.
His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI will be visiting Paphos in early June 2010 and it is expected that he will conduct a mass at the church of Agia Kyriaki and bless the Hospice which, hopefully, will be near completion by then.
The Hospice under construction
Welcome to the new St. Michael’s Hospice web pages which are currently under development. Over the coming days we will be adding more information about St. Michael’s Hospice Charity to give you a clearer picture about the progress towards the completion of the first phase of the project, the building and opening of the hospice.
