"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.

Argentina: A car for the missionary sisters of Saint John the Baptist in Paso del Sapo

One of the sisters, with a group of children from a boarding school

  The apostolic prelature of Escuel, in the Argentinian part of Patagonia, is just one year old. Its ordinary, Bishop José Slaby, is originally from Poland and first went to Argentina as a young priest of 26. Today he is the shepherd of 65,000 souls in an area of some 78,074 km² (30,500 square miles). Most of the population lives in the town on Escuel, which is likewise the seat of the diocese; the rest live in small villages scattered across the entire area. The people are overwhelmingly descendants of the Mapuche Indians. The region is dominated by the Andean cordillera and the semi-desert Meseta region.
  The Catholic Church faces major challenges in this region. "The sects are flooding in and exploiting the spiritual needs of simple people", reports Bishop José. They tend to proselytise aggressively. Moreover, there is an influx of people from Bolivia and Chile, who tend to settle above all around the fringes of the cities. Since they are generally desperate and without prospects, there has been a resulting increase in violence. Another source of regret for the bishop is that there is as yet no solid tradition of faith among the people. So far only around 3% of baptised children make their First Holy Communion, and many people are not prepared to commit themselves to Church or even family life. This is an area where the bishop is hoping to intensify his pastoral outreach, above all in the youth and family apostolate.
  This is an area where the bishop is hoping to intensify his pastoral outreach, above all in the youth and family apostolate.
  Unfortunately he also faces a grave shortage of priests. He has just two Argentinian and two Spanish diocesan priests, plus eight priests belonging to religious orders, to minister to the Catholic faithful. However, this year three young men from Esquel are hoping to travel to Buenos Aires to enter the seminary there - a first modest burgeoning of local vocations. But it will be years before these priests are ordained. For now there are many regions where a priest can reach only once a year.
  Of great help in the pastoral work of the prelature are the 16 religious sisters working here. Bishop José is happy to see how much they do for the people. They give religious instruction, prepare children and adults for the Sacraments, conduct Word Liturgies and prayer meetings and help all kinds of needy people in their spiritual and material necessities.
  Six Misioneras de San Juan Bautista (Missionary Sisters of Saint John the Baptist) are working in the parish of St Joseph in Paso del Sapo, a town that has no parish priest. The various villages that belong to this parish lie anything from 6 to 160 miles from the centre of the parish. And yet the condition of the roads is appalling. The climate does not help, for the summers are very hot and windy, while the winters are bitterly cold. The roads are often icy and snowbound, and an ordinary car cannot cope. And so what are the sisters in need is a robust 4x4 vehicle, so that they can reach the people in the widely scattered communities. They already have one vehicle, in fact, but for six sisters and in order to reach the numerous remote communities, it is not enough, since this is the only way that most people in the villages can obtain some occasional pastoral and social support. With a second vehicle they could do twice as much good.
  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