Abouna Fouad

Abouna Fouad Twal is a Roman Catholic Archbishop. In June 2008, he was named by Pope Benedict as the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem.

Apart from the very long titles, to me Abouna Fouad symbolizes kindness and interfaith respect and tolerance.

Abouna Fouad is a family friend.  I met him for the first time in Rome, Italy. He was then a Monsignor. I was then sixteen years old. I was living with the Orsoline sisters while going to school. Abouna Fouad looked after me as if I were one of his own family. He often invited me to the Vatican to have early dinners at the residents' dining room (The Vatican's equivalent of staff cafeteria). I remember my fascination with the Swiss Guard stationed everywhere at the Vatican and how they always used to remind me of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker (no idea why). I was also fortunate enough to gain access to the breathtaking private back gardens of the Vatican. I still remember how privileged I used to feel everytime I gained access to the very quarters reserved for those usually closely connected to the Vatican. Those scenes are so vivid in my head, it all seems like it was yesterday.

Abouna Fouad often used to check on me at the convent where I used to live, which gave me a super boost with the sisters, a nee nee nee nee boo boo sort of boost. I was the friend of the MONSIGNORE....WHOPPEEE!!! I knew they were jealous and I loved it.  If I ever needed anything, I knew I could call on him, and he would be there. I remember taking walks with Abouna Fouad in the streets of Rome and discussing everything from politics to life to anything that I felt like talking about. Abouna Fouad was truly a father figure for me in a town where everything seemed alien then.

The beauty of Abouna Fouad is that he befriended me regardless of my age and religion. He never made me feel that I was too young to express an opinion. On the contrary, to me he always seemed genuinely interested in what this young girl had to say. My Moslem religion was never an issue. Of all the many topics that we talked about, religion was never one of them. He respected my faith and I did his. He cared for me as human being, for at the end of the day what unites us is our humanity: the most important religion of all.

Congratulations Abouna Fouad! 

You make me proud!