Priest Who Didn't Go Nuclear

The Catholic Near East Welfare Association, an international Vatican agency, may be known more as a charity for the sake of Catholics far away and often of Eastern Churches, or where those churches have a presence. The CNEWA is a "papal agency for humanitarian and pastoral support." Its magazine colors fascinatingly rich details about lands in Eastern Europe, the Near East as well as Africa.

Msgr. Robert L. Stern, the outgoing head of the Vatican agency, offered personal remarks about the mission of the CNEWA, and about himself. He said

that when he was in college, the priesthood seemed like a "gloomy road" and he had his eyes instead on the brighter path of becoming a nuclear physicist.

"It was the 'in' thing at the time," he told Catholic News Service at CNEWA's central office at the Vatican.

Read the two-page, CNS story on the Boston Pilot Catholic News site.

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Wiki-image of a symbol of Eastern Catholicism has been entered into the public domain.