Aid to the Church in Need
MIRROR GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
Being God’s Mercy
BEING GOD’S MERCY
Aid to the Church in Need
MIRROR GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
CONTENTS PAGE As Christians, we give Hope, we give Joy......... J F Declan Quinn...............................1 Young People Need Your prayers and your good example................................................... Fr. Martin Barta..................................2 Deed, Word and prayer – the fullness of Mercy and WYD 2016...............................................................................4 A thing of beautiful has sprouted in Senegal..... .............................................................6 Ethiopia – giving glory to God through the ages...........................................................7 God’s Mercy in the Eucharist................................. Cindy Wooden...................................8 A place of Adoration, a Home for the Lord in India................................................... 10 A ‘House of Peace’............................................................................................................. 11 On being God’s Mercy to Muslims in Magadan................................................. Fr. Michael Shields......................... 12 On being God’s Mercy to the Muslims in Iraq............................................................ Robert Ewan................................... 14 Schools of Mercy................................................................................................................. 19 Praying for Mercy....................................................... Andrew Rawdings.......................... 20 On being God’s Mercy behind bars..................... Joanna Bogle.................................. 22 On receiving and offering mercy Madeline’s story......................................................... Michael Kinsella.............................. 26 ACN Annual Report 2015................................................................................................. 28 The First Mass............................................................ Johannes Freiherr Heereman........ 32 Editor: Jürgen Liminski. Publisher: Kirche in Not / Ostpriesterhilfe, Postfach 1209, 61452 Königstein, Germany. De licentia competentis auctoritatis ecclesiasticae. Printed in Ireland - ISSN 0252-2535. www.acn-intl.org
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AS CHRISTIANS, WE GIVE HOPE, WE GIVE JOY A chairde,
e are living this extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy and in a recording he made specially for Aid to the Church in Need, Pope Francis reminds us that ‘we men and women need God’s Mercy’ and that ‘we also need each other’s mercy’.
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For which reason the Holy Father points out to us the need ‘to take each other’s hand’ and ‘to take care of each other’ and he then proceeds to invite everyone to undertake an enduring work of Mercy in association with Aid to the Church in Need. In short the Holy Father invites all of the baptised to be God’s Mercy in our broken world which every day cries out ever louder for Mercy. On being God’s Mercy is therefore the theme of this edition of our Mirror magazine in which ACN’s Works of Mercy during the past year are overviewed, Works of Mercy which would not have been undertaken without the support of our many thousand of benefactors in Ireland and around the world, all of whom have been and are the hands of God’s Mercy in realising enduring works of Mercy: works which make a lasting difference in people’s lives, works which are a source of Hope for many and a cause for Joy for all.
Every ACN benefactor through their words, their prayers and their deeds offered in support of the suffering and persecuted be they in distant lands or on one’s doorstep, whether the suffering be caused by others, by invisible forces or by themselves is participating in God’s Mercy, is being what Pope Francis’ calls ‘the caress of God’. Dear Friends, the truth is that in communion with Christ and with one another we touch lives, we give Hope, we give Joy. We are the people of God and we reflect His light into every dark corner of the human heart and our fallen world.
Beir Beannacht
J F Declan Quinn Director, Aid to the Church in Need (Ire) PS. Please encourage others to join us through their words, their prayers and their deeds to all that are in need, wherever they are in need.
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8th December 2015 - 20th November 2016
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BEING GOD’S MERCY
YOUNG PEOPLE NEED YOUR PRAYERS AND YOUR GOOD EXAMPLE Dear Friends,
no clear sense
n 26 July in Cracow, Poland, the 31st World Youth Day will begin. More than a million young people will travel during this Year of Mercy to the city of Saint Faustina – and also to the home country of Pope Saint John Paul II, who founded World Youth Day. His pontificate was characterised by an emphasis on God’s Mercy. This is his great legacy. He called on all people to believe that the goodness of God is greater than all evil. And he particularly entrusted the young people of the world with this mission of Mercy.
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Young people want to touch the stars and do great deeds. ‘I am offering souls the last hope of salvation – that is, recourse to my Mercy’, Jesus told Saint Faustina. Today’s world is shaken by profound crises. People are increasingly becoming lost and confused. Young people are the hardest hit of all. Many of them are like fragile craft, bobbing on the high seas, without hope of a safe harbour. Torn from their moorings, they can find
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of identity, no sense of belonging, no sense of direction. God is offering us the anchor of his Divine Mercy, bound fast to the very depths of our soul and holding it secure. He gives us the sure knowledge that there is indeed a hand that holds me safe, and holds the world – and no one can tear me from His grasp. Yet how unfathomably horrifying are the terrorist attacks and suicide attacks of recent times that seem to weigh against this confidence...
In Maiduguri, Nigeria 58 were killed, in Garissa University in Kenya 148, in Paris, France 130, in Brussels, Belgium 35, in Lahore, Pakistan 72 – to name but a few...
All the killers were young men, aged between 19 and 31. Led astray by false hopes, they wanted to change the world. They too were seeking a meaning in life that goes beyond death. Violence was their response to the great crises of the world.
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Mercy is the diametrically opposed response to this path. For mercy is grounded in the almighty power of the Love of God, who suffers with the world and transforms it from within. It is a transformation that must always begin with ourselves. ‘I lift my eyes to the mountains; from where shall help come to me? My help will come from the Lord, my God, for He is merciful!’ So runs the first verse of the World Youth Day hymn. Young people want to climb the heights, touch the stars, do great deeds. They look to role models. If they can recognise the goodness of God in our example, then the desire will grow in them also to share in the mission of mercy. orld Youth Day can mark a decisive turning point in the lives of innumerable young people. We have received requests from many of the poorest countries for help, so that their young people can travel to Cracow. They are relying on your help. Dear Friends, these young people need your prayers and your good example.
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With my grateful blessing on you all,
Father Martin M. Barta, Spiritual Assistant
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DEED, WORD AND PRAYER – THE FULLNESS OF MERCY AND WYD 2016 hey come from the ends of the earth. But without your help, many of them would not make it to the World Youth Day in Cracow.
‘Blessed are the merciful’, for they shall have mercy shown to them (cf Mt 5:7) – So runs the slogan for Cracow. That means putting mercy in to action.
Young people from the Middle East are particularly dependent on help to get to WYD and ACN is there to help. 25 young Syriac-rite Catholics and the 65 Coptic Catholics from Egypt, the 22 young Syrians, and the 30 young Roman Catholics from South Sudan, as well as the young people from Ukraine, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Bangladesh, Uruguay and Ecuador – to mention just some of them.
So, the message for Cracow is precisely what Jesus said to Sister Faustina: ‘I give you three ways of showing mercy to your neighbour –
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When in Cracow young people will have frequent opportunity to across ACN in Cracow, whether in the pilgrim’s handbook or in the youth catechism YOUCAT.
first by deed, second by word and third by prayer.
In these three acts is contained the fullness of mercy.’ Word, prayer and deed – this is a call to us • as well.
Now too, thanks to your generosity, there will also be the DOCAT – a compendium of the Church’s social teaching and a course in mercy, applied to society, written and presented with young people in mind.
Three years ago in Rio, thanks to you – the group from Bangladesh.
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YOUCAT The YOUCAT, an abbreviation of Youth Catechism of the Catholic Church, is a version of the Catechism of the Catholic Church that is specifically tailored in language, presentation and format towards the youth of the Catholic faith. Originally published in 2011, the year of World Youth Day in Madrid, it was created in order to meaningfully engage with Catholic youth that they may better understand and defend their faith. The YOUCAT book is truly a global publication and is available in over 30 languages.
youcat.org GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
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A THING OF BEAUTIFUL HAS SPROUTED IN SENEGAL
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scattered seed begins to sprout. In Savoigne, Senegal, a tiny Catholic community of 375 souls is now a flourishing sapling in a vast expanse of Islam. Ninety percent of the inhabitants of the diocese of Saint-Louis in Senegal are Muslims. The people in Savoigne happily live side-by-side. When Father Emmanuel Zanaboni was put in charge of this parish as a young missionary, 34 years ago, the village was virtually abandoned. A halffinished building served as a multipurpose centre for all manner of things. Father Emmanuel… sought out the ‘scattered sheep’ brought them together again, prayed each evening with the young
people,
taught them to sing psalms and hymns
and
started converting the hall into a church.
He had brought with him from Italy an 18th century statue of Our Lady, Health of the Sick, who quickly drew people to her. There was an upwelling of prayer and faith, and soon pilgrims began to arrive. They grew ever more numerous, and now some even come from the capital, Dakar. Savoigne has become a place of pilgrimage and the converted church hall has long been too small. Today, at least half the congregation has to stand outside during Holy Mass and there is a lack of accommodation for the pilgrims. So two years ago work began on a new pilgrim church. Everyone gives or helps in whatever way they can. Now thanks to your generosity ACN is also helping with a contribution which will cover a proportion of the building costs. A beautiful seed has sprouted in the Senegalese wilderness, thanks be to God and the intervention of • His Blessed Mother.
Build My House.
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ETHIOPIA – GIVING GLORY TO GOD THROUGH THE AGES
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ccording to the Acts of the Apostles an ‘Ethiopian, a eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure’ was one of the first Christians (8:27).
Today the Christians of Ethiopia are among the poorest in the world. There is no earthly treasure here, only poverty, but they still remain faithful. Their real treasure is the Sacraments. In the parish of Arguba, in the apostolic vicariate of Jimma-Bonga, they would love to be able to provide a fitting house for these treasures and for the liturgical fittings, books and vessels pertaining to them. But their simple grass-thatched wooden chapels would not be a safe place: rats, termites and other pests, combined with the wind and rain, mean that the chapels have to be rebuilt every couple of years. Now they want to build a church that will last and be secure. ‘What is to stop me being baptised?’, the eunuch asked Philip, who then baptised him. What is to stop us helping these Ethiopians from building a worthy house of God in which they can receive the grace of the sacraments today? Especially since many otherwise welldisposed Ethiopians might wonder at these impoverished huts and doubt whether the true God lives there? No need for material
treasures; just a simple and permanent church, built by their own hands and through the generosity of their brothers and sisters in the faith in Europe, America and elsewhere...that would be an enormous boost to their faith. We have promised our support for the new church in Arguba. Also in the same vicariate, for the people of the Manja tribe, there are additional difficulties as they are a discriminated minority. There the Church has already built a kindergarten and a primary school for the almost 2,000 Catholics of the Manja people but now they need a solid church to replace the crumbling grass-thatched, timber-framed mud hut they currently use. Here too, your solidarity and generosity have made possible our grant, their fidelity to Christ has been rewarded, God’s name has been glorified and we all have been blessed. •
Worshipping God beneath the heavens – but better to worship in the House of the Lord… especially when it rains!
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GOD’S MERCY IN THE EUCHARIST Cindy Wooden4
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orpus Christi procession should honour Christ’s gift of Himself in the Eucharist, but should also be a pledge to share bread and faith with the people of the cities and towns where the processions take place, Pope Francis has said. Just as the ‘breaking of the bread’ became the icon of the early Christian community, giving of oneself in order to nourish others spiritually and physically should be a sign of Christians today, the Pope said on the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ, Corpus Christi 2016.
On a warm spring evening, the Pope’s celebration began with Mass outside Rome’s Basilica of St John Lateran and was to be followed by a traditional Corpus Christi procession from St John Lateran to the Basilica of St Mary Major, one mile away. Hundreds of members of parish and diocesan confraternities and sodalities – dressed in blue, brown, black or white capes and robes – joined the Pope for Mass and would make the nighttime walk to St Mary Major for Eucharistic benediction with him. ‘May this action of the Eucharistic procession, which we will carry out shortly, 4 Adapted and edited from the Catholic Herald Friday 27 May, 2016.
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respond to Jesus’s command,’ he said in his homily. The procession should be ‘an action to commemorate him; an action to give food to the crowds of today; an act to break open our faith and our lives as a sign of Christ’s love for this city and for the whole world.’ In every celebration of the Eucharist, the Pope said, the people place simple bread and wine into ‘poor hands anointed by the Holy Spirit’ and Jesus ‘gives us His body and His blood.’ The people’s gifts are an important part of the process, just as they were when Jesus fed the multitude with five loaves and two fish, Pope Francis said. ‘Indeed,’ he said, ‘it is Jesus who blesses and breaks the loaves and provides sufficient food to satisfy the whole crowd, but it is the disciples who offer the five loaves and two fish.’ ‘Jesus wanted it this way,’ he said. Rather than letting the disciples send the people away to find food, Jesus wanted the disciples to ‘put at his disposal what little they had.’ ‘And there is another gesture: the pieces of bread, broken by the holy and venerable hands of Our Lord, pass into the poor hands of the disciples, who distribute them to the people,’ Pope Francis said. The miracle of the multiplication of loaves and fish, he said, ‘signals what Christ wants
to accomplish for the salvation of all mankind, giving His own flesh and blood. And yet this needs always to happen through those two small actions: offering the few loaves and fish which
we have;
receiving the bread broken by the hands
of Jesus and giving it to all.’
Later in the Mass, a couple with four children and a grandmother with her three grandchildren brought the gifts of bread and wine to the Pope for consecration. Pope Francis urged the crowd gathered on the lawn outside the basilica to consider all the holy men and women throughout history who have given their lives, ‘broken themselves’, in order to nourish others. ‘How many mothers, how many fathers, together with the slices of bread they provide each day on the tables of their homes, have broken their hearts to let their children grow, and grow well,’ he said. ‘How many Christians, as responsible citizens, have broken their own lives to defend the dignity of all, especially the poorest, the marginalised and those discriminated!’ The source of strength for such given, he said, is found in ‘the Eucharist, in the power of the risen Lord’s love, who today too breaks bread for us and repeats: “Do this in remembrance of me.”’ •
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A PLACE OF ADORATION, A HOME FOR THE LORD IN INDIA t was always the dream of these local Catholics to have a chapel, a place to pray and worship together. For where they live, in the parish of Saint Francis de Sales in Thynri in southeast India, the priests can only visit three, maybe four times a year. The mountains and the torrential monsoon rains make the roads all but impassable from May to October.
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Indeed, that made their dream seem more remote than ever. But thanks to your help, Father Antony Kattathara writes, the
people were able to buy the necessary materials and ‘everyone joined in’. And so the chapel was finished and consecrated in good time, before the monsoon rains. ‘Now it is the heart of the village, the centre of their life. Every Sunday the whole village comes together to sing and praise God.’ Father Antony thanks you all, on behalf of the whole community: ‘They cannot read or write, but they have a strong faith.’ And all the stronger now, thanks to their dream • fulfilled in concrete reality.
Church at Thynri, India.
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A ‘HOUSE OF PEACE’ akashuf, ‘Austerity’ – this is the current economic policy in Algeria. And yet, in Algiers, despite the economic crisis, they are building a mosque with the highest minaret in the world. It is intended to accommodate around 100,000 worshippers. Meanwhile, the tiny Catholic minority in Skikda in the east of the country would be more than happy with a small chapel for half a dozen Christian believers.
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The former parish church of Saint Thérèse of Lisieux was turned into an orphanage for foundling children during the 1970s when there were simply not enough Christians. But the old presbytery was retained by the parish. In 2010 they began converting it into a multipurpose centre. The roof and lean-to extension have been repaired and water, gas and electricity supplies connected. Everyone has pitched in – students, the parish priest himself, friends and even visitors. Now the time has come to start on the chapel. A sliding door will cut off any noise outside and ensure they can pray in silence. But, of course, the diocese of Constantine itself has not been left unscathed by the economic crisis in the country. The community relies on donations, and these have been far fewer in the past couple of years. At the same time, building materials have become even more expensive. And yet the community is growing. Most of the Sunday Mass attendees are students
from Algeria, Egypt, the countries of sub-Saharan Africa and even Asians all of whom in recent times have been asking for Baptism. Conversion is not a punishable crime under the Algerian penal code, although an ordinance of 2006 punishes those who seek to encourage conversions. Many Muslims find the centre a ‘place of peace and freedom’. The example of prayer and love has an effect. Father Bernard puts it like this: ‘Dialogue is the best antidote to the temptations to intolerance and violence.’ ACN’s support is what this small but flourishing community needs to complete the chapel and multipurpose centre. It will be a centre for a springtime of love in the shadow of the great mosque. •
Breakthrough for dialogue. Only love can bring a true springtime.
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ON BEING GOD’S MERCY TO MUSLIMS IN MAGADAN Fr. Michael Shields, ACN Evangelist-at-large, Siberia rowing up in Alaska I never knew a single Muslim or anything about Islam. The only time I saw Arabs was in cartoons or in classic films like ‘Lawrence of Arabia.’
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But today, on my desk, I am pictured standing between two Muslim Arabs from the Tamarraset region of Algeria. We met in Rome at Blessed Charles de Foucauld’s beatification in 2005. A few years later one of those men, Yacine, guided me on a 2011 tour of the Hoggar and Tamarresset region during my sabbatical year in which I retraced the steps of Blessed Charles. The other man in the picture was murdered sometime after the photo was taken. It was rumored he was getting too close to Christians. I also have a Muslim friend who regularly comes to pray at my parish church in Magadan, Russia. We prayed for his son and his son was healed. He also regularly prays before the image of the Merciful Jesus. I consider him a good friend. Another Muslim friend visits our parish church on Fridays — her holy day — and drops off clothes and food for the poor. We use these to help those in need, especially young mothers with babies. Friendship with these Muslims has given me a deeper appreciation of their faith and inspired me to read more about Islam — especially about how to explain Christianity to them. 12
You see, there are deep misunderstandings that many Muslims have regarding Christian doctrine. Misunderstandings which need to be challenged and clarified. In explaining and sharing our faith, we Catholics must always be clear when clarifying what we actually believe — this of course goes when we dialogue with evangelicals as well as in our interreligious dialogue with Muslims and those of other non-Christian faiths. Over the years, my Muslim friends here in Magadan have shared with me what they think Christianity is all about. Beginning with these conversations I have begun to clarify to them that what they were taught is in many respects, not what we actually believe. In one instance I was asked why I don’t recognize Mohammad as a prophet even though they recognize Jesus as a prophet. I explained that seeing Jesus as only a prophet — even a great prophet — reduces Jesus to someone He was not. He was not just a prophet. The Qur’an and therefore Islam itself denies the very foundation of Christianity: Christ’s divinity, the Incarnation, the Crucifixion, the Redemption, and the Trinity. Muslims are taught that the Trinity consists of God, Jesus and Mary. As you can see, the challenge is how to show Muslims the real Jesus, not the
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version presented by the Qur’an, but Jesus as he is revealed in the Gospels. Most Muslims believe that Islam is the ultimate and definitive revealed religion, and they are convinced that Christians falsified their Scriptures to counter the truth. This presents a real problem when it comes to sharing passages of Sacred Scripture with them. Yet I show where our Scriptures are consistent and where Jesus himself proclaims His divinity. I show them where the Scriptures teach that Jesus was really crucified and died. Muslims are taught that Jesus didn’t really die on the cross. They believe that such a death is not worthy of a great prophet of God. I also try to show where our Scriptures affirm Jesus’ Resurrection and where Jesus showed Himself to His followers. My goal in all this is simply to share with these friends the gift of Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord. If Jesus is only a prophet, he can’t forgive sins and redeem souls. But as Risen Lord He can. Despite living in this politically correct time I still want to be a good pastor and share the Good News with anyone who is willing to dialogue.
Fr. Michael and a young Christian in Magadan.
My Muslim friend came early to pray today and we were adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. He said to me afterwards, ‘You are prayerful like we are.’ I said, ‘Yes come let’s pray together. I know that Jesus wants us as brothers. And may Jesus Christ be praised in this.’ • GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
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ON BEING GOD’S MERCY TO THE MUSLIMS IN IRAQ Robert Ewan 1
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t’s 1998 and a young Iraqi, Douglas Al-Bazi, is being ordained to the priesthood in a joyous ceremony. Fast-forward nine years: the priest is chained to a chair, lathered in sweat and blood, lost in an abyss of pain. The allied invasion of Iraq began in April 2003 and Saddam Hussein was soon ousted. But the intervention unleashed an unprecedented wave of sectarian violence, with Sunni and Shia groups seeking to exterminate each other. Militants on both sides viewed the invasion as a Christian crusade and Iraqi Christians as collaborators. As Iraq lost all semblance of order, antiChristian persecution increased in ferocity. Fr Al-Bazi, a member of the Chaldean Catholic Church, worked assiduously to help his people deal with bomb attacks on churches, kidnappings and indiscriminate killing. He cycled the narrow, deserted streets of Baghdad, delivering medicine to residents of his neighbourhood. He also set up a preschool for Christian and Muslim children. ‘I used to visit mosques and meet their imams and I enjoyed a healthy relationship with them,’ Fr Al-Bazi told me recently. ‘Some Muslim houses in my area had a picture of me handing out graduation certificates to their children and their parents used to say that “our children got their certificates from the Pope”.’ 14
Daily life was extremely dangerous. Fr Al-Bazi survived a gunshot to his legs and three explosions – one of them at his church. ‘As a priest living in Baghdad, sometimes we had the feeling that when we go out we won’t be going back again,’ he recalls. ‘A kind of one-way ticket.’ His parish in the working-class area of New Baghdad dwindled from 2,500 families in the 1990s to fewer than 300. After celebrating Mass on Sunday, November 17, 2007, Fr Al-Bazi set off to meet some friends. Suddenly two cars surrounded his vehicle and forced him to pull over. Masked men rushed towards him, dragged him out and bundled him inside the boot of his car. ‘After a drive, the car came to a stop and they pulled me out of the boot, tied and blindfolded,’ he says. ‘I was placed in a utility room outside a house. I felt someone’s knee in my face. My nose was bloodied and broken. Crimson rivulets ran down my face. My heart banged against my ribs as if it wanted out.’ Fr Al-Bazi pauses briefly, then continues in a deadpan manner. ‘One of my captors came to wipe my bloody nose and he warned me not to open my eyes, otherwise he would put a bullet through me.’ 1 Adapted and edited from the May 27 2016 issue of The Catholic Herald.
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‘They tried to give me false hope, telling me that there had been a case of mistaken identity and I would be released soon. A barrage of questions were pummelling my mind. Then I heard t h e sound of a chain scraping the floor. This was the beginning of my gruelling ordeal which lasted nine days.’ The first question his captors – Islamist militants – asked was whether he was Sunni or Shia. ‘In those days it was a crime punishable by death if you wrongfully accused someone of an incorrect faith. I told them they were individuals deprived of a good education and upbringing and people were taking advantage of them. A kind of stillness descended on the room. Suddenly they burst into vociferous conversation, blathering about the misfortunes that had befallen their families and resulted in them being what they were today.’ ‘The gang told me they would call the Church and demand a ransom. One of them said: “How much do you think your people will pay – $1 million?” I told him: “I am not the prime minister. I am just an ordinary priest. Do not get your hopes too high. Besides, you should wait for a few days before making a call: you will look more professional.” He muttered a derisive comment and said: “Normally the people we bring here plead for their lives, but he does not seem to care.”’ Fr. Douglas Al-Bazi, ACN’s Project Partner in Ankawa, Iraq.
At night, when Fr Al-Bazi was alone, he felt a chaotic surge of feelings and memo-
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ries. ‘After being deprived of water for several days I started to hallucinate and saw my mum and sister and many people passing by and asking: “Do you want water, Father?” Next morning they came and gave me some water. These days whenever I wake up in the middle of the night I stretch my hand out to touch the bottle of water. It reminds me that I’m still alive.’ As he goes on with his story there is a touch of defiance in his voice. ‘Sometimes I was aggressive with them. I told them: “If you’re men, you would put a bullet in the gun and kill me.” That only made them beat me harder. They asked me why I wasn’t afraid of death. I told them: “For me, death is the beginning. But for you it is the end.”’ ‘One of them heaped insults on me. I felt his glare on me like the heat of the blistering sun. He placed an empty revolver against my head and pressed the trigger.’
morning they would apologise for hurting him, claiming that his body had to show signs of torture, otherwise their boss would punish them. ‘One of them had problems with his wife and he asked me to guide him with his marriage,’ he recalls. ‘I told him that he must love his wife and respect her and be tolerant towards her. Another one always complained about his knee and would seek my advice on how best to treat it.’ ‘One of the captors told me I had a big belly and should start thinking of how to reduce it. He gave me some guidance on how to lose weight, and we became very close. He told me: “Someone is coming tonight to interrogate you and whenever I hit you, make sure you scream. If you don’t, he will ask me to hit you harder.” That night I was
But the fear they sought to instil in him only seemed to increase his selflessness. ‘When you are in such a situation, you don’t think about yourself,’ Fr Al-Bazi says. ‘You only think of the people you’ll be leaving behind. I told them: “Before you kill me, I have one request: please inform my people that I am dead.”’ Curiously, when they weren’t threatening him, his captors treated him as a spiritual father. Often they would complain to him about their hardships and ask his advice. During the day they addressed him as ‘Father’ but at night as ‘infidel’. In the 16
Fr. Douglas speaking about his Kidnapping and showing his shirt with the dried blood on.
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interrogated and as the beating started I did not scream. After they left he was furious with me and shouted: “I told you to scream when I hit you! Why didn’t you?”’ Fr Al-Bazi kept track of time by marking days on the wall with his handcuffs. In a voice brittle with emotion, he says: ‘As I looked at my chain I realised that it had 10 rings. I used them to recite the rosary. It gave me solace and hope. This was one of the deepest and most moving rosaries that I ever prayed in my life. I kept praying and hoping it would never end. It was the strength of my faith that illuminated my tortuous journey and helped me to survive despair in captivity.’ Fr Nadheer Dako, a Chaldean Catholic priest who now lives in London, served as a negotiator. ‘The kidnappers contacted me and allowed me to speak to Fr Douglas and he told me what had happened to him,’ he says. ‘The gang demanded a very high ransom for his release. After several attempts we failed to agree to a lower ransom and I told them that the Church considered Fr Douglas as one of its martyrs.’ Fr Al-Bazi says the kidnappers seethed with anger. ‘They told me: “We have all night to take out all your teeth, and you have plenty of them.” And the beating began. They hit me with a hammer on my jaw and broke my front tooth. This was followed by several hammer blows to my back which resulted in two broken vertebrae. The pain was excruciating. My mouth was pumping out blood.’
‘One of them told me: “We are going to cut off your head and replace it with a dog’s head. Then we will cut your body bit by bit.” His friend replied to him: “Are you stupid? You should cut the body first and then the head.” My laughter at their asinine conversation made them angry and they started beating me with their pistols. They said: “Why are you laughing? You are not at a picnic.” I told them: “When I am dead you can do whatever you like with my body.”’ Throughout his captivity Fr Al-Bazi was given bread and cold tea. The kidnappers would leave him for several days on his own, shrouded in darkness. He used humour as a defence mechanism. ‘On the seventh or eighth day they brought me some cold tea and half-rotten bread. I tried to make a joke and told them: “Why did you bring me cold tea? Is it because I am a Christian?” One of the captors murmured in a condescending tone: “His life is in our hands and he is complaining about his tea.”’ ‘The most hurtful thing I endured, more than the physical pain, was the vile insults they directed at me, my family, friends and my Church. They realised that this was my weakest point. I felt nauseated whenever I heard their words and tried to withdraw into my own world.’ On the 10th day the gang told him that a ransom had been agreed with the Church and he would be released. ‘I was put in the back seat of a car and I could hear the gun:
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“Click! Click! Click!” My nerves throbbed with anticipation. I thought I was drifting perilously close to death.’ ‘One of them told me that he was the one who had broken my nose. He asked whether I would forgive them for what they did to me. I was shocked by the tenderness of his voice and I told him: ‘Yes, you are completely forgiven.’ And he said: ‘Do you really mean it from the bottom of your heart?’ I said: ‘Yes, and maybe one day we will meet and have lunch or tea, provided your hands are not covered in someone else’s blood.”’ ‘When the car stopped, they told me to walk straight ahead without looking back and that I would find my keys in the ignition of my car. Of course, there was no car. I took a taxi and told the driver I had no money to pay him. He looked at my state and told me not to worry. He dropped me at the nearest church and when the priest, Fr Jamal, saw
me he rushed towards me and gave me a warm hug.’ ‘Now, amid the welter of anguish, I felt a strange sense of relief. Finally knowing my ordeal was over, I burst into unstoppable tears. That first night I kept all the lights on. I also turned the radio and TV on just to believe that I was alive.’ Fr Al-Bazi says he holds no animosity toward his kidnappers. He now lives in Ankawa, northern Iraq, where with the help of Aid to the Church in Need he has built a refugee camp for Christians fleeing ISIS. He tells of wanting to return to Baghdad to meet the men who held him captive. ‘I forgive, but I will always remember,’ he says. ‘I cannot forget the pain, the loneliness, the ache. But I will never remember to inflict retribution on them. I pray to God that he takes away the evil from their hearts.’ •
Fr. Douglas with a group of children at their school on Mar Qardakh street.
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SCHOOLS OF MERCY IN IRAQ
J
ust before the first anniversary of the flight of more than 120,000 Christians on August 6 2015, Catholic bishops from northern Iraq contacted Aid to the Church in Need. In two Chaldean dioceses and one Syriac-Catholic diocese, provisional schools were erected from prefabricated components for children and young people who were forced to flee from the terrorist group ‘Islamic State’ (IS) along with their parents in 2015. ‘We would like to thank you for your kind support for our community during this difficult time, when thousands of Christian families were forced to leave their homes and properties due to the ISIS attack last June to August 2014,’ said Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda of Erbil. ‘We are especially grateful for your help for our students in building 5 schools for them in our archdiocese, the Chaldean Archdiocese of Erbil, which were completed in the city of Ankawa on land owned by our archdioceses.’ Two of the five schools are consequently being used for about 1,100 students aged 18 to 25 who were forced to flee, including not only Christians, but also Muslims and Yazidi. The Chaldean Bishop of Zakho and Ammadeya, Rabban Al Qas, also thanked Aid to the Church in Need: ‘The Chaldean diocese of Zakho and Ammadeya will take full responsibility for the administration of
two schools dedicated to internally displaced persons. Thank you so much for your kind help and caring love. We assure you of our prayers for our benefactors and ask for your prayers. May God bless you all with His care and love.’ Another school is being run under the auspices of the Syriac-Catholic Archdiocese of Mosul, Kirkuk and Kurdistan. Archbishop Youhanna Botros Moshi recently wrote to Aid to the Church in Need, ‘We are especially grateful for your help in supporting our pupils by building a school in the city of Dohuk,’ the Syriac-Catholic archbishop said. By building the schools from prefabricated parts Aid to the Church in Need wanted to help prevent the pupils concerned from having to go without schooling for the as yet unforeseeable duration of their exile. In all, about 7,200 mainly Christian children are to be taught in what are now eight schools. They will be taught by teachers from the Christian towns currently occupied by ISIS. The central government in Baghdad will pay for the upkeep of the teaching staff. The classrooms are to be used not only for schooling, but also for catechetical instruction and other church activities. •
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PRAYING FOR MERCY ANDREW RAWDINGS
Please don’t pray for me; Pray for the people who want to kill me, for the people who have put a bounty on my head: the people who want to see me and my colleagues dead. Please don’t pray for me; Pray for the people who see me as the invader, for the people who want to get revenge, for the people who want to avenge the honour of their tribe. Please don’t pray for me; Pray for the people who are driven by fear, fuelled by poverty, energised by anger and grief, and motivated by rejection. Please don’t pray for me; Pray for the people who have brought me here, for the people who make the decisions, for the people who want money, power, influence and control.
Rev. Andrew Rawdings is an Anglican priest who wrote this poem while serving as a chaplain in Afghanistan.
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Aid to the Church in Need
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Please don’t pray for me; Pray for the people who live here, for the people whose lives have been disrupted by violence, for the voiceless and oppressed, for the people who are caught in the cross fire. Please don’t pray for me; Pray for the children who have lost parents, for the fathers who have lost sons, for the mothers who have lost children, for the wives who have lost husbands, for the people who have lost everything. Please don’t pray for me; Pray for those who have lost limbs, for those who have lost their hearing and eyesight, for those who have lost their peace, or a piece, of mind, for those who have lost their future, for those who have lost hope. Please don’t pray for me but Cut cry out for mercy, Scream out for justice, Shout for compassion, Plead for forgiveness, Whisper for peace.
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BEING GOD’S MERCY
ON BEING GOD’S MERCY BEHIND BARS Joanna Bogle2
A
s a catechist, I have seen a deep spiritual hunger behind the locked doors. They mostly call me ‘Miss’, as if I was a schoolteacher. And the whole place does rather have the feel of a school: a big modern, concrete-and-corridors noisy comprehensive. A modern prison isn’t a dark subterranean dungeon with guttering candles revealing gaunt, bearded faces that have not seen the light of day for years. It’s mostly wide corridors with men in T-shirts and tracksuit bottoms. The prison I visit has good sports facilities and lots of well-equipped classrooms offering courses in everything from a degree in economics to lessons in first aid. It’s purpose-built and clean. No horrible smells and – unlike another prison which
one inmate recently described to me – no cockroaches. The kitchens produce varied and tasty meals and the young men who work there gain qualifications to equip them for working at good hotels and restaurants. I’m not sure I am really much use at helping with catechesis, but I’m giving it my best shot. The chaplain – a fine priest – uses some of the excellent materials now available, including the Evangelium course from the Catholic Truth Society. There are formal lessons to teach and prayers to say together. Above all, he says ‘they like seeing someone from the outside, and it’s all part of the Church’. The materials we use are for everyone – and there are also some things that are directly aimed at those who are ‘inside’, including a simple booklet with the Daily Office. It has a message from the Archbishop of Westminster reminding the reader that prison walls cannot cut us off from God or the fellowship of the Church. There are always a number of men who are seeking Baptism or, more often, Confirmation. Many – not all – males who end up in prison come from what are coyly called ‘dysfunctional’ families. The biggest single common factor seems to be the lack of a good father. 2 Adapted and edited from an article in the Catholic Herald 2 June 2016.
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Aid to the Church in Need
YEAR OF MERCY
‘Yeah, I’m Catholic’ is an identification that means something, but is a bit muddled: Mum or Nan took them to Mass occasionally; they went to a Catholic school. There are often good memories of this but a complete lack of any regular pattern – certainly not weekly – and with no knowledge of much else except some vaguely superstitious folklore. Confirmation didn’t happen because by then they had lost contact with the Church. Prison is a time for rethinking. And being a Catholic gives status – it marks you out as not Muslim, and it is often proclaimed with a rosary (or more than one) around the neck, and a Crucifix or Sacred Heart among the general adolescent-style clutter in the cell. Probably having catechetical instruction from a tiresome woman in what one might kindly call late middle age is simply something that has to be endured – but at least
it helps to present a serious and structured approach: the Church is seen as something large and great, and this is important. Young men are tribal in nature. The loss of any proper identification with a tribe is a problem for many drifting young people in secularist Britain, with its broken community bonds and lack of a sense of history. The Church can give people back their birthright, as children of God, loved by the Father, redeemed, sanctified, anointed, with a destiny in eternity. Mass is in a large purpose-designed space also used by other religious groups. The chaplain insists that it be set out correctly with a proper altar with all the trimmings, a large image of the Divine Mercy by the baptismal font and a fine Crucifix. This is no coffee table and guitars occasion. Mass is formal and dignified, with good vestments
The sign of the Cross.
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BEING GOD’S MERCY
and beautiful altar vessels. The men like singing rousing hymns (Soul of my Saviour is a favourite). There can be inter-religious goodwill; the imam has sometimes got the Muslim men to help make things ready for the Mass. Elsewhere in the prison there is an awful lot of locking and unlocking of doors, checking and re-checking, and fingerprint isometric identification. There is also what I can only describe as cheery good manners. People call out a friendly ‘Hello, Father!’ to the priest, come up to ask about Confession, shake hands with the catechist when introduced or bring out work to show (‘I’ve done all the questions about the Holy Spirit, Miss …’). Officially, prison jargon is rather politically correct. Every corridor has posters about diversity and so on, and there are reminders about counselling and meditation and
anger management courses. There is also an emphasis on what are probably called core values, things like fairness, efficiency, respect. Values linger here which have given way to slogans and bureaucracy elsewhere. The main things I have learned so far (and I’m still learning) are, in no particular order: the fundamental importance of father-
hood (the priest can at least offer a sort of father-image and in doing so is doing more good than he realises); the value of teaching the faith in a structured way; the huge burden of muddled regrets and unhappiness that so many people carry; the awesome beauty of the Sacrament of Reconciliation; the importance of realising that you are never going to be anyone’s saviour, and that any good that is achieved is in and through Christ; there is a lot of injustice and unfairness, and feminists are quite wrong when they claim that it’s mostly women who suffer from it.
The Church operates within and beyond prison walls. Those inside are quarrelsome, bitter, unrealistically optimistic, regretful, worried, frightened, repentant, proud, confused and longing to belong to something larger than themselves. In short they are just like us, we all are in need of God’s Mercy. •
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YEAR OF MERCY
Catholic Men in mission by Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted. Read online at www.acnireland.org. For a hard copy please contact the ACN office (details on backpage). A donation whilst not necessary would be a blessing.
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ON RECEIVING AND OFFERING MERCY - MADELINE’S STORY Michael Kinsella 3
‘The first memories of my mother were also my last. As I was to learn, she and I had travelled from hostel to hostel for the first 3 years of my life. I remember seeing her lying by the doorway in the half-light of evening. Her eyes were open but she seemed asleep. Her medicine, as she called it, was still hanging out of her arm. I tried waking her but there was no response. I had thought her asleep. As the night drew on and the room darkened, I took a blanket and placed it over her chest and placed a cushion beneath her head. I lay down beside her. She felt like ice. I snuggled close to her to try to make her warm. When I awoke the next morning, I was very hungry. I made us both cereal, when leaving the bowl beside her I’d hoped she’d wake for breakfast because I thought she must be hungry like I was.
Another night and another morning came. I talked to her and brushed her hair. I placed her arm around my body. The only fear I felt was when a Garda looked through the door as another sunset came. He broke a window in the door, opened the latch and then saw me. From his look, I knew something was wrong. I lost my childhood the moment I realised I’d lost my mother. Garda Seamus hugged me and I cried as he carried me away from my mother. I called out for her hoping she’d wake up to take me back. I never felt anything other than love for her. I miss her dearly. I hope we meet again someday.’
3 Michael Kinsella Phd is a close friend of ACN Ireland and is helping the YOUCAT foundation establish a YOUCAT Development Centre for the training of English speaking catechists.
An eye level view of a homeless person.
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Aid to the Church in Need
YEAR OF MERCY
M
adeline was 3 years old when Garda Seamus found her mother dead from a drug overdose. As the effects of the trauma gradually manifested itself over the course of her childhood, by 15 years of age Madeline suffered from chronic depression and suicidal ideation. Living through a succession of foster homes left Madeline with a loss of identity and she struggled to find meaning in her life. Late one evening, she was on a long walk and happened upon a Church. She went in and poured her sorrow and misery out before our merciful God and so over time and with prayer she came to find healing – knowing that her mother was in a better place.
Madeline now helps others who suffer from grief and addiction and is happily married with a daughter of her own. Like so many anonymous Christians around the world Madeline has found Hope and Joy in her life and is being God’s Mercy to other poor souls in need. There are in fact quite literally millions of Madelines around the world who are mercifully giving Hope and Joy to others and many millions more who are in need of such lasting Hope and Joy which can only be found in Christ Jesus. It is ACN’s great privilege to be able to help the world’s Madelines, Marthas, and Martins be God’s Mercy. •
LET US BOAST OF OUR HOPE Saint Paul Through our Lord Jesus Christ, by faith we are judged righteous and at peace with God, since it is by faith and through Jesus that we have entered this state of grace in which we can boast about looking forward to God’s glory. But that is not all we can boast about; we can boast about our sufferings. These sufferings bring patience, as we know, and patience brings perseverance, and perseverance brings hope, and this hope is not deceptive, because the love of God has been poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit which has been given us. (Rom 5:1-5) •
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ACN ANNUAL REPORT 2015 Johannes Freiherr Heereman
O
nce again, what we classify so prosaically in our bookkeeping as our ‘Income’ has risen again considerably. Yet behind this rather emotionless word is concealed something of incalculable worth – your generosity. It seems to know no bounds. 124 million Euros – more than ever before – is the amount you entrusted to us last year, so that we could come to the help of the Church in need all over the world. Thank you for your generosity, thank you for your confidence in us. We are under no illusions. We know that it is not because of any clever fundraising on our part, but because of the bitter plight of our brothers and sisters in the faith, particularly in the Middle East, that drives us all, in this Year of Mercy, to bear witness to our love of Christ.
For as Pope Francis says, ‘to be an apostle of Mercy, means tending His wounds, which are still visible today in the bodies and souls of so many of his brothers and sisters. By tending these wounds, we profess Jesus and make him present and living.’ This same witness will be needed again this year. We will continue to help wherever Christians suffer, so that children can have a roof over their heads, so that priests and religious sisters can continue their pastoral ministry and so that Christians in China, Syria, Iraq, Africa and all over the world can know and feel the solidarity of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. Their suffering calls to us, their plight cries out to heaven – and the love of Christ unites us, wherever in the world your generosity is reaching out. •
2015 REPORT INCOME Individual donations Mass Offerings Legacies Sales and tax relief Other donations/income Subtotal Net financial income Total income
€
%
EXPENSES
€
82,053,469 10,800,007 26,640,602 3,813,209 427,891
66.1 % 8.7 % 21.5 % 3.1 % 0.3 %
Expenses in fulfilment of the Church’s mission - Projects in 146 countries 94,829,344 76.4 % - Project follow-up 2,595,848 2.1 % - Information, media and pastoral support 15,226,747 12.3 %
123,735,178 99.7 %
Total mission related exp 112,651,939 90.8 % 12,141,946 8,099,035
%
389,301
0.3 %
Fundraising Administration
9.8 % 6.5 %
124,124,479
100 %
Total expenses
20,240,981 16.3 %
Taken from reserves
-8,768,439 -
7.1 %
These international financial statements have been audited and certified by KPMG. They are based on the individual financial statements of each national office, and aggregated to show the worldwide position. We will gladly supply these on request.
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Aid to the Church in Need
YEAR OF MERCY
AID ALLOCATED PER REGION:
I
n 2015 the plight of Christians in the Middle East was the focus of media attention – and likewise of our aid. The cost of the emergency aid we supplied, along with the structural projects, has more than doubled and now accounts for one fifth (21.6%) of our total budget – exceeded only by the continent of Africa, at 29.3%. Our aid for Syria increased threefold. In fact, in all regions there was a substantial increase in the aid we supplied: from Eastern Europe (up by 1.5 million), through Africa (up 7.8 million) to the Middle East (up by 11.5 million). As in the previous year, the largest number of project requests came from Africa, with a total of 2,093 projects supported. This was followed by Eastern Europe and by Asia/Oceania.
2.0%
1.2%
0.7%
0.6%
The majority of the Mass Offerings likewise went to Africa and Asia. Latin America remains a vital, youthful continent, from which many new Catholic communities are emerging, but the sects and the ravages of drug addiction are a constant menace. There is a great need to invest in catechesis here.
The 10 countries that received most aid 1 Iraq 2 India 3 Ukraine 4 Syria 5 D.R. Congo 6 Brazil 7 Ethiopia 8 Tanzania 9 Peru 10 Lebanon
2015 10,699,379 6,865,067 6,252,613 5,618,278 3,349,377 2,673,268 2,362,922 2,129,581 1,856,248 1,720,609
2014 4,664,145 4,949,670 5,124,211 1,942,451 2,874,460 2,445,697 1,202,149 1,226,537 1,173,599 1,015,127
29.3% Africa 21.6% Middle East
13.5% 29.3%
16.5% Central and Eastern Europe 14.6% Asia 13.5% Latin America
14.6%
2.0% Western Europe 16.5%
21.6%
1.2% North America 0.7% International 0.6% Oceania
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WHERE YOU HELPED
D
URING 2015 WE SUPPORTED 6,209 PROJECTS, or 13% (almost 600) more than in the previous year. Unfortunately though, we still had to say ‘no’ to 1,110 requests for help... REFUGEES AND EMERGENCY AID: This type of aid has increased dramatically, on account of the continuing persecution of Christian minorities, especially in the Middle East, and also owing to the violence in central Africa, Nigeria and South Sudan. Since the beginning of the so-called ‘Arab spring’ we have sent 44.6 million Euros to these regions. 4% 3%
TRAINING OF PRIESTS AND RELIGIOUS: The support you gave for both basic and ongoing formation of religious sisters, novices, seminarians and priests came to a total of 8.32 million Euros.
37% Construction
7%
37%
9%
18% Refugee and emergency aid 12% Mass Offerings
10%
12% 18%
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CONSTRUCTION AID: The ‘classical’ construction and renovation projects, such as churches, convents, parish houses and seminaries once again made up the largest ‘chunk’ of our aid in 2015 totalling of 34.5 million Euros.
10% Religious formation of the laity
Aid to the Church in Need
9% Formation of priests and religious 7% Pastoral transport 4% Religious literature, media apostolate 3% Support for religious sisters
YEAR OF MERCY
1,431,380 MASS OFFERINGS hrough stipends we were able to help one priest in every nine T (43,203 priests altogether), especially in Africa and Asia – and in return Holy Mass was celebrated every 22 seconds for a benefactor’s intentions.
11,075 SEMINARIANS SUPPORTED DURING 2015 One seminarian in every 10 worldwide (in 2014 it was one in every 12). Most of them are training for the priesthood in Africa (3,775), Latin America (2,900) and Eastern Europe (2,883).
10,240 RELIGIOUS SISTERS WERE SUPPORTED IN THEIR APOSTOLATE AND /OR THEIR FORMATION One sister in every 67 worldwide. In most cases this involved financial support for contemplative religious sisters.
1,674 CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS round the world we helped to fund chapels, churches, A cathedrals and seminaries, including those in regions devastated by natural disasters.
524 CARS / 714 MOTORCYCLES AND BICYCLES / 17 BOATS ost of the vehicles you helped provide were for use in Africa and M Asia. The requests for help with various forms of pastoral transport increased sharply, accounting for almost 10% of the projects.
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THE FIRST MASS Dear Friends, he first Mass celebrated by a priest is an uplifting experience. Sursum corda – Lift up your hearts… When a new priest says these words at the beginning of the Preface, and when the congregation responds: ‘We lift them up to the Lord’, there is a sense of real joy in our Faith, a Faith with a future, become incarnate in the presence of the young priest. This is what I experienced recently, when our own son celebrated his first Mass in his home country. Truly, a first Mass lifts up the heart.
T
Most such first Masses take place today in Africa, Latin America and India. And not always in churches of stone or bricks. Of course buildings do not stop us lifting up our hearts to Christ, but they help establish a sense of community, a sense of gathering in honour
of the Lord, of giving thanks, as is ‘right and just’. The House of the Lord is the place of Adoration, the place where we lift up our hearts, the place of eternity… That is why the help which, thanks to your generosity, we are able to give for building churches is a work that endures. Nor is it simply a matter of bricks and mortar... No, it is much more than this. The celebration of the Eucharist, as Pope Benedict XVI has written, means: ‘God has answered. The Eucharist is God, as answering presence.’ Now that really is an uplifting answer!
Johannes Freiherr Heereman, Executive President of ACN International
WHERE TO SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTION FOR THE CHURCH IN NEED Please use the Freepost envelope. Aid to the Church in Need,
info@acnireland.org
If you give by standing order, or have sent a donation recently, please accept our sincere thanks. This MIRROR is for your interest and information.
www.acnireland.org
Registered Charity Numbers: (RoI) 9492 (NI) XR96620.
151 St. Mobhi Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 9.
32
IBAN IE32 BOFI 9005 7890 6993 28 BIC BOFI IE2D
(01) 837 7516
Aid to the Church in Need
I GIVE WITH JOY...
...BLESS YOU AMDG
Sharing our joy with you We recently got married, and we want to share our joy with you. In our separate lives before this, we both came to know about the wonderful work you do around the world. And so we decided to send ACN and another charity one quarter each of the gifts and money we received from our loving family and dear friends. We thank you for your great work and ask your prayers for all who those who give us so much. A newly married couple in France Positively inspiring ACN’s Mirror magazine is positively ‘inspiring’. I love receiving it and certain pages and photographs I leave it open on my dining table as each time I see it, it inspires me and I read the article again. I have sent the link of the website to various people I know. Reading it, can only enhance peoples’ lives and being involved with ACN is a true blessing. A benefactress in Australia I give with Joy and gratitude At this time, when people are thinking of holidays, I try to manage without them and instead give the money thus saved to charitable organisations like ACN. Unfortunately this year, my donation will be less as my income is considerably lower than in previous years. Nevertheless, I give it with Joy and gratitude, because the work you do is extraordinary – concrete help to sustain and spread the Christian faith in the world. That is what is needed, that is what you do and that is what my contribution is for. A benefactor in Portugal
Dear Friends, As a result of your prayers, your contributions and the works of our project partners throughout the world such as Fr. Douglas Al-Bazi, we are able to bring the medicine of God’s Mercy to millions of poor souls who are suffering in the face of evil. Thank you for joining with us in our efforts to be God’s Mercy, His Missionaries of Joy and of Hope as we struggle together daily to carry the divine light of God’s face to every dark and forgotten corner of our fallen world. Be assured that God does not forget those who do not forget Him and are the hands of His Mercy in this world. In Christ,
J F Declan Quinn Director, Aid to the Church in Need (Ire)
WE ARE CALLED TO BE MISSIONARIES OF JOY
‘YOUNG PEOPLE WANT TO DO GREAT DEEDS.’ ACN Spiritual Assistant
‘We need to protect, guide and encourage our young people, helping them to build a society worthy of their great spiritual and cultural heritage.’
Pope Francis in Manila, 18 January 2015
World Youth Day: Meeting God and meeting other young people.
THE MIRROR IS AVAILABLE TO READ AT ACNIRELAND.ORG
Aid to the Church in Need
MIRROR GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
Aid to the Church in Need
Aid to the Church in Need
MIRROR GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
Aid to the Church in Need
MIRROR
MIRROR
Christian Persecution and Forgiveness
The Ways of Mercy
GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
GIVE JOY, GIVE HOPE
Cuan Mhuire 1966-2016
Being God’s Mercy
16 - 5
Holding up Jesus to the World The Medicine of Mercy