"Persecuted and Forgotten?" - ACN Report on Christians oppressed for their faith 2007/2008

Please click on the front cover of the book to read the report.

To obtain a free copy of the report* please ring the Australian office on (02) 9679-1929 OR send your request by e-mail to: info@aidtochurch.org OR write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148.

ACN offers help to Pakistan Flood victims

"Certainly, this tragedy is very huge and requires extraordinary assistance in order to save life and human dignity." - Bishop Andrew Francis of Multan

Displaced Flood Victims in Quetta

AUTHORITIES in Pakistan have been overwhelmed by the number of people displaced by the floods. According to reports from the country received by Aid to the Church in Need, Pakistan is experiencing problems dealing with the scale of the disaster - which has killed more than 1600 people,  4 million people left homeless and 20 million others affected by this disaster.

Aid to the Church in Need has already sent over $75,000 in emergency aid to flood victims in Pakistan. Crisis-stricken people in Multan, in southern Punjab province, have received $35,000 from ACN and a grant of $21,000 has been sent to Quetta, in remote Baluchistan province, where vast numbers of displaced people have been assembling, desperate for help. In the earliest days of the emergency, the charity gave over $20,000 for distribution by Sisters helping homeless people in Nowshera, a region west of the capital, Islamabad. These initial grants provided by the charity for persecuted and suffering Catholics go towards food, clothing, tents and other forms of shelter. Medical aid is also a top priority amid growing concerns of a cholera outbreak.

Bishop Andrew Francis of Multan, who is overseeing key ACN emergency aid in the region, wrote: "On behalf of the diocese of Multan and especially the flood victims, I am deeply grateful to you at ACN for your kind concern and compassion. Certainly, this tragedy is very huge and requires extraordinary assistance in order to save life and human dignity." ACN stands ready to make a further emergency grant to Sindh, the south-east province where the River Indus burst its banks with devastating consequences.

Regina Lynch, ACN's director of projects, said: "We have been overwhelmed with donations and messages of support from ACN benefactors anxious to help the suffering people of Pakistan."

Stressing the need for ongoing support long after the media spot light has shifted elsewhere, she said: "On behalf of the flood victims and those trying to assist them, especially the bishops, I urge the friends of ACN not to forget our brothers and sisters in Pakistan. We ask that they continue to offer help in whatever way they can especially through prayer and action."

Ms Lynch went on to say: "Even after the flood there will still be much rebuilding work to be done - entire villages were swept away by the flood in northern Pakistan." 

ACN is committed to rebuilding work after the floods subside. She added: "The destroyed church buildings need to be built up quickly again, after the waters have receded so that people's life can be got back to normal as soon as possible. It will be essential to support the spiritual basis for reconstruction." 

To help this cause please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web: www.aidtochurch.org 

Donations can be made via our ONLINE DONATIONS tab.  More stories on the Pakistan floods can be found on our NEWS & FEATURES page. 

On new foundations: The construction of the Cathedral of Mother Teresa in Prizren, Kosovo

Many Catholics around the world will remember Blessed Mother Teresa on Friday August 27, the day on which the "little mother of the poor" would have celebrated her 100th birthday.

Catholic Radio and Television Network (CRTN), are currently broadcasting on YouTube, a short documentary titled, On new foundations, which focuses on the construction of a cathedral, when completed, will honor the memory of the Mother Teresa. Located in the heart of Kosovo's capital, Pristina, and partly funded by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the new cathedral is one of the most significant projects in the recent history of the new republic with an Albanian majority, the same nationality as Mother Teresa. Significantly, the cathedral is located in the heart of the capital of a country with a Muslim majority, and according to the documentary, most Muslims are open to the idea of building this Catholic cathedral in the heart of the capital.

"We Muslims have no reason to protest against the building of the Cathedral", says Professor Morina Qemajl, dean of the Islamic faculty of Pristina. Instead, he considers it as "an enrichment". A unanimous view, which is unique in this Balkan region where, in recent years, has been faced with ethnic and interreligious conflicts. The cathedral is a place of reconciliation, "a Church that reflects the example of the person of Mother Teresa", as highlighted in the documentary. With the help of ACN, a friendship and an unbreakable tie with the Kosovan Catholic Church, which began as far back as 1959, was renewed and enforced. It was in fact in those years that the founder of Aid to the Church in Need, Fr. Werenfried van Straaten went to stay with Mother Teresa in Calcutta. In 1959, during his first trip to Asia, Father Werenfried, 'discovered' Mother Teresa. Upon his return to Europe he wrote in the charity's newsletter (known as the Mirror), of the organization: He stated at the time "Mother Teresa and her Sisters care for the abandoned children whom they pick out of the dustbins in the mornings, and also for the dying, whom they collect from the streets. They place them on stretchers and bring them to the 'house of the dying.' I went to see her there and went with her from stretcher to stretcher, blessing 127 dying people." Later, in the 1970s and 80s, Father Werenfried travelled with Mother Teresa from town to town in a spiritually hungry Europe. Together they stirred up lukewarm souls, and gathered donations for the poor, the persecuted and downtrodden. Their goal was expressed by Mother Teresa in these words: "Works of love are always works of peace. Whenever you give love to others, you will experience the peace that comes to you and to them. Where peace is, there is God". The fruit of that friendship is now reflected in the construction of this new cathedral.

Madagascar: Help for the construction of a guest house for the Carmelite sisters in Amborovy

The Carmelite sisters

  The Carmelite convent in Amborovy in the north of Madagascar has been blessed with many vocations. Although only founded in 1994, it already has 22 sisters, and many more young women and girls are preparing to enter the convent. Already, the convent has been the source of valuable initiatives for the local Church; for example, during the Year for Priests proclaimed by the Holy Father, the sisters mobilised the faithful in the parishes of the diocese to take part in a prayer chain for priests. Pride of place in all this was Eucharistic adoration, and more and more people came to join the sisters in these prayers for the sanctification of the priesthood.
  But however much the spiritual life of this community may be flourishing, it is nonetheless extremely difficult for them even to assure their basic survival in this island state, which is among the poorest countries in the world. The nuns have done so many things already in order to try and support themselves by the work of their own hands. But not surprisingly, the circumstances are far from easy. Although they grow manioc, bananas and other fruits and vegetables in their garden, the extremely dry conditions mean that everything has to be watered at least three times a day, which, given the shortage of water, is extremely difficult. When the rains do come, then it is often in the form of devastating cyclones that cause widespread destruction. The sisters had also been rearing chickens, but then in 1997 the bird flu epidemic meant that they were forced to kill all 500 hens. The local veterinary authorities have forbidden them to keep any more hens for a period of two years, in order to allow the virus in and around the chicken huts to die out. Since then they have been struggling to support themselves by making hosts, but in a diocese where only 8% of the population are Catholics, there is little to be earned from this work either. The same is true of the liturgical vestments and other ornaments that they embroider and for which there are few customers. The sisters even embroider napkins and table settings, with beautiful designs of flowers, birds and fishes and many more things besides, but in Madagascar, like everywhere else, people tend more and more to use to use the cheap and easy paper napkins, so here too their orders are falling off more and more.
  And so they have written to the catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) for help to build a guest hose. "After much thought and reflection, we have decided to implement our plan to build a guest house, which would be a source of spiritual benefit to many people and at the same time help us to support ourselves, so that we can continue to live our contemplative vocation".
  As they say, the sisters do not want this merely to be a source of income for themselves but at the same time wish to provide a spiritual benefit for the people in Madagascar, and they believe that this would be a "beautiful witness in our region, where most people do not yet know God and still cling to traditional cults".
  Interest has grown in retreat days in the silence of the Carmelite convent, especially since the relics of St Therese of the Child Jesus came to Madagascar in 2004 on their way through various countries. The Carmelite sisters received many enquiries, both from groups and from individuals. At present, however, they do not have any facilities for accommodating guests.
  ACN has promised a grant of $28,000, so that their convent can one day become a spiritual oasis for many more people.  The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has promised them a grant of $21,000 for a new 4x4 vehicle. To help this cause please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. Web: www.aidtochurch.org

Click here for past weeks' featured projects

 

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2008 World Youth Day - A great Festival of Faith! Thank you to all our benefactors who helped support over 1,000 poor and oppressed youth attend World Youth Day. They came from Sudan, Laos, Myanmar, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Cuba, Haiti, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and from the remote indigenuous community of Wadeye in the far Northern Territory. Through your most generous support and prayers they were able to partake in this faith filled event. We pray that the witness of Pope Benedict XVI with these young people be a cry of hope for the universal Church. Click on the individual countries below for detailed information on the help ACN gave youth delegations that travelled to Sydney for WYD 2008 Wadeye (Northern Territory) - Papua New Guinea - Sudan - Laos - East Timor - Turkey - Turkmenistan - Bosnia-Herzegovina - Cuba - Haiti --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Please click links below to read pictorial reports on the assistance given by Aid to the Church in Need, to help youth delegations from poor and oppressed countries, attend WYD 2008. - Annex WYD 1 (PDF) - Annex WYD 2 (PDF)

Reports for you to read about the work of Aid to the Church in Need