Projects of the Month

Bishop Raharilamboniaina with the priests in his diocese assisted by ACN
© Aid to the Church in Need

Having a Holy Mass celebrated for a particular intention is a long and venerable tradition. The offering, given to the priest by the person concerned is in no sense a "payment", but rather a gesture of love and gratitude and also of financial support for the individual priest who in the words of Consecration in Holy Mass once more makes present the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the altar. For many priests in the poorest countries of the world these Mass offerings are in fact a crucial means of survival.

Distributing communion to children and young people during Mass in Ecuador 
© Aid to the Church in Need

Christmas is not, first and foremost, about giving presents of course, but rather, for Christians at least, about celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ our Redeemer. God came into this world as a little child to lead us to salvation. And it is in order to strengthen and deepen this awareness and their faith in it that the apostolic vicariate of Zamora in south-eastern Ecuador is planning to give 2,000 children a little booklet each, with prayers and Bible readings relating to the Advent and Christmas seasons. In this way they will be able to more deeply experience the season of Advent, the time of expectation, and prepare spiritually for the feast of Christ‘s birth.

Seminarians at Prayer during holy Mass in the seminary chapel in the diocese of Kafanchan 
© Aid to the Church in Need

The Nigeria-based terrorist organisation Boko Haram is now notorious throughout the world for the brutality of its attacks. What is less well known is the fact that Islamist nomadic Fulani tribesman are now also engaging in similar activities, burning down villages and launching other kinds of brutal attacks on other Nigerians. In 2016 alone, in the northern Kaduna State, around a thousand people were murdered by Fulani extremists, while hundreds more were injured and dozens of villages burned to the ground. Many of these attacks were deliberately targeted against Christians, and again and again their churches in particular have been destroyed.

A villager receives the absolution in the sacrament of Penance with the new boat
in the back ground 
© Aid to the Church in Need

The Catholic territorial prelature of Tefé lies in the state of Amazonas in Northwest Brazil. The prelature alone covers an area of over 265,0002 km - roughly the size of Italy - and vast sections of it are accessible only by river. The distances are immense.