Blessing for charity’s work for persecuted Christians

By John Newton and Terry Murphy
 

 
Image:ACN

Back row: Peter Sefton-Williams, Chairman of the Board of ACN (UK), Archbishop Kevin, Fr Martin Edwards, Ecclesiastical Assistant ACN (UK) and Neville Kyrke-Smith, National Director of ACN (UK)
Front row: ACN volunteers
 

CHURCH leaders and guests of honour gathered to bless a new chapter in the work of a leading Catholic charity based in Sutton, Surrey, on Thursday, 29th November, 2007.



Aid to the Church in Need, which supports persecuted and needy Christians around the world, was celebrating the official opening of the UK office’s new building. The guest of honour was Archbishop Faustino Sainz Muñoz, the Apostolic Nuncio.

The Nuncio, who is the Vatican’s representative in Great Britain, reiterated Pope Benedict XVI’s continuing support for ACN’s work. Earlier this year, the Pope urged ACN leaders to focus their attention on the crisis for Christians in the Middle East.

The blessing, which coincided with ACN’s 60^th anniversary, was celebrated by the Most Reverend Kevin McDonald, Archbishop of Southwark, the diocese where ACN is based.

At a ceremony attended by almost a hundred friends of the charity, Archbishop McDonald praised ACN’s work both helping and raising the profile of persecuted Christians.

“The plight of Christians does not get the attention it deserves,” said the Archbishop.

“The belief and hope of the faithful enduring persecution makes the kingdom of God a reality in their own lives and in the world in general.

“We work to alleviate their suffering, but also to acknowledge their witness of faith.”

During the ceremony, Archbishop Sainz Muñoz placed a rosary in the hands of a statue of Our Lady of Fatima, the charity’s patron. The statue was a gift from ACN UK’s sister office in Portugal.
 

ACN UK’s relocation follows the rapid growth of the charity. Neville Kyrke-Smith, the National Director of ACN UK, underlined the growth, saying: “The UK office looks set to pay a record amount of more than £4.5million in project grants this year. That is a witness to the commitment and compassion of our benefactors.”

And Regina Lynch, ACN’s International Head of Projects, said: “This is my chance to be a mouthpiece for the tens of thousands of suffering Christians helped by Aid to the Church in Need, to thank UK benefactors for all the help they have offered our persecuted brothers and sisters.”

The latest aid payments made by ACN’s UK office included support for a youth day in Fasuta, northern Israel, which was organised by Archbishop Elias Chacour of the Galilee.

Other project payments went to priests, Sisters and seminarians as well as to Church building projects in more than 30 countries including Pakistan, Ukraine, Vietnam and Uganda.
 

Image: Archdiocese of Southwark

Archbishop Kevin blesses the new offices of ACN
  

 

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.  ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.

Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom Pope John Paul II named “An Outstanding Apostle of Charity”, the organisation is now at work in about 145 countries throughout the world.

The charity – whose UK office is in Sutton, Surrey – undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, 45 million Aid to the Church in Need Child’s Bibles have been distributed worldwide.

For more information, contact John Pontifex, ACN UK Head of Press and Information 020 8661 5161 or John Newton, ACN Press Officer on 020 8661 5167.