On Thursday, April 4, 2019, at the Tenth Annual Gala of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of New York, Archon John A. Catsimatidis was honored with the Deus Caritas Award by His Eminence Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York, and the Board of Trustees of Catholic Charities.

In his remarks accepting the award, Archon Catsimatidis, Chairman and CEO of the Red Apple Group, singled out for particular praise the man he called his mentor, Fr. Alexander Karloutsos, Protopresbyter of the Ecumenical Patriarchate and Spiritual Advisor of the Order of Saint Andrew the Apostle. Archon Catsimatidis also recounted his efforts to establish an ecumenical chapel at the Presidential retreat of Camp David and his work on the visit of His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to the Vatican during the papacy of Pope John Paul II, which was, Catsimatidis said, “only the third visit of an Ecumenical Patriarch to the Vatican in 800 years.” Archon Catsimatidis also related, as a sign of hope for the world, how the Ecumenical Patriarch gave a cross to Fidel Castro during a trip to Havana to establish a Greek Orthodox Church there, and how Castro gratefully accepted it.

Said Archon Catsimatidis: “Our challenge for the future: in the last ten years, 400,000 Christians died in the Middle East… And we all have to work hard to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

Catholic Charities is a federation of approximately 90 agencies and programs located throughout the 10 counties of the Archdiocese of New York, helping to solve the problems of New Yorkers in need — non-Catholics and Catholics alike — with services that protect and nurture children, resolve family crises, assist the hungry and homeless, support the physically and emotionally challenged, and integrate immigrants and refugees.

In 2017, Catholic Charities marked a 100-year legacy of service and launched the next century of providing help and creating hope for New Yorkers in need.