www.acnmalta.org
No 8 • November/ December 2014 Published eight times per year
The season of Advent restores this horizon of hope, a hope which does not disappoint, for it is founded on God’s Word. A hope which does not disappoint, simply because the Lord never disappoints! He is faithful! Pope Francis, Saint Peter’s Square Angelus greeting for the beginning of Advent 2013 Christmas in Kazakhstan: Holy Infant so tender and mild ...
“Come Lord and redeem us, do not delay!” We pray these and other similar words during the Advent liturgies. These urgent prayers have little to do with the romantic kitsch of the traditional Christmas markets. Instead these heartfelt pleas and petitions correspond perfectly to the horrific situation of the world. The season of Advent leaves no room for illusions; rather it points to a profound reality – to God who is coming into the world. Do we truly believe this, or is faith sleeping within us? May our hearts awaken this advent. May we seek God and the truth of our human condition once more. The crisis of our world, which is most clearly evident in the “Cradle of Civilisation”, as Iraq is often called, reminds us just how relevant and necessary our journey to the manger in Bethlehem is. It is something of a prophetic sign that Iraq – the location, so it is thought, of the Garden of Eden – should have become the theatre of a war that has overshadowed the whole of our world. This is also the country where the
conscience is not a subjective capacity that can decide, independently of objective truth, what is good and what is evil. Rather it is the capacity to recognise the truth and follow it. Without the capacity for discernment between good and evil human co-existence would be impossible. A third path of Advent is that of humility and poverty taken by God. God empties Himself and descends among us in all our darkness and sinfulness. Such love as this has the capacity to sanctify and transform every kind of Mosul – the preaching of the Prophet Jonah suffering and to make the Earth into a conbrought about the miraculous conversion of secrated place – into a Christmastide “Garthe whole city. In Babylon, close to the cap- den of Eden”. ital city Baghdad, the Prophet Daniel once lived, who in his great vision saw the com- Dear friends, let us open our hearts to ing of the Son of Man. It was here in Iraq God’s coming, to the Advent of the Lord, who as the Son of Man has come for all and that Advent began. desires to lead us all to the Father. Advent reveals to us that God is not some remote being who plays no significant role A Blessed Christmas and a joyful New in “real” life. God is near; He became man, Year for 2015 to each one of you and to He became one of us. This coming of God your families! implies the transformation of the world. It demands a complete rethinking of our lives. The second coming of God – Advent – Father Martin Maria Barta leads us via the path of conscience. And Ecclesiastical Assistant tower of Babel was built. Today, once again, man seeks to raise himself above God and to expunge Him and His Law from his mind. Yet the biblical Iraq is at the same time a land of promises. It was here, in the city of Ur, that Abraham, our Father in faith, was born. In Nineveh – today’s
May our hearts awaken this Advent!
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e Refug
es
Faith, hope and shelter For five years now, Moe has been living in the refugee camp in Thailand, on the Burmese border. Her village in Burma was destroyed, her husband and her brother murdered. “My daughter was just seven days old at the time”, she recalls. Moe is too frightened to return. And if she did return, where would she go? Many of the fields in her former home are now scattered with landmines. How could anyone cultivate these fields? And have the guns finally fallen silent? Like Moe, most of the 130,000 refugees from these landmined areas near the border are asking the same question: Where shall we go? The Catholic Church in Thailand has an answer – both for the Christian refugees and for those of other faiths. As long as they remain, the Church will provide them with social and pastoral care. However, one problem is the language. Six Burmese priests celebrate Holy Mass in the nine official refugee camps and also in a
Education for a future – Eritrean Christian children in a Sudanese camp.
Faith means belonging – Holy Mass for Burmese Catholics in a Thai refugee camp.
dozen or so smaller places. They also administer the sacraments, teach the catechism, organise prayer groups, give spiritual counsel and visit people in their huts and tents. A number of Burmese religious sisters are helping them. And so the refugees can at least preserve their cultural and spiritual identity. For the social part of the Church’s aid work there are many different sources of funding available to her, but for her pastoral work there are very few – except for us. We have promised the bishops a total of €67,500 for the next three years. The provision of faith, hope and shelter must continue.
is the question of their children’s future. What will happen to them, so far from their home, without a chance to go to school or get an education? Education is a source of hope, if only of a better future. Consequently, the Christians who have fled to Sudan from the oppression in Eritrea have set up schools, with the help of the Franciscan Capuchin Fathers. They continue to hope, despite the hostility of the Sudanese regime. With 2,500 children in three different schools, there is considerable expense involved – €4,000 for paper, pencils and electricity alone, and over €20,000 a year for the salaries of the teachers. Then there is the rent, water, copying faAn equally pressing concern for all refugees, cilities, all of which come to another after the question of where they will get their €20,000. We have promised the Capuchin daily sustenance and a roof over their heads, Fathers €38,000.
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A special gift – for the children who were unable to flee “And going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh” (Mt 2:11). Many children in Syria were unable to flee. They also need your gifts. They need food, clothing, blankets for the coming winter – and perhaps a present, to help them forget. And they need love. Their parents have loving hearts, but empty 2
hands. Father Ziad is making up Christmas parcels for 5,000 children in Homs and Marmarita – warm trousers, pullovers, a woolly hat, and also a little Crib with the Child Jesus, like the one in Bethlehem, together with the Christmas Story and a little Bible as well. They will be real treasures for these children in their bombed-out houses; they will help them to smile and forget the thunder of the guns. And perhaps the parents’ eyes too will light up again, for the first time in a long while… Father Ziad’s helpers – packing up the little treasures. Each parcel costs €30.
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Any donation you kindly give will go to support these, or similar
tmas Chris
Your Christmas gift for the Church in Need €5 for one year of silent catechesis in Cuba “And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger” (Lk 2:6-7).
the Incarnation of Jesus, his Passion and Resurrection. Today this calendar can be found throughout the country, even in some of the offices of the Communist Party. It is a form of silent catechesis, throughout the whole year. A large number of copies have been The time came for the birthday of Jesus. printed – for 2014 over half a million. And Since then it has been firmly established in for 2015, when the biblical salvation history the calendar. And of course, it also has a spe- will be the central focus of the calendar, they cial place in the liturgical and catechetical are planning on producing 600,000 copies. calendar that is being published by the Catholic Church in Cuba. This is one of the This is a major project for the new evangeli- In offices, public buildings and at home rare opportunities for the Church in this coun- sation on this Caribbean island. For €5 you can – you can find the Good News everytry to publicly proclaim the Good News of provide 25 families with a calendar. where, throughout the island.
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€25 to heat the church in the Kazakhstan winter “And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest” (Lk 2:13-14).
a few of them come regularly to Holy Mass. These songs of praise will ring out at Christmas time – and all the more since the parish has just managed to install a new central heating system for this well-atA great multitude, giving praise to God – tended church. Indeed, this was an absolute there is also something of that in the necessity, since at this time of year the temCatholic parish of Saint Anthony in Kok- perature can fall as low as minus 46°C! shetau, in Kazakhstan – even though the congregation numbers barely more than a ACN has helped towards the costs. But there few hundred people. In the Church they are many other places in Eastern Europe and hold organ recitals and concerts, which the Central Asia where they are still waiting for people of the town, including those of other heating. Will you help, with a contribution of An appeal to your hearts: Winter can be faiths and none at all, flock to attend in €25 – or more – to add warmth to their songs bitter in the East – and the appeals for help with heating are multiplying. large numbers. And after these events, not of praise?
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€100 for a bicycle for a catechist in Africa “And they went with haste and found quently visit the people in the four remote Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying villages of Puol, Pinyman, Okura and Itang in a manger ” (Lk 2:16). and open up to them the mysteries of the Redemption. This is what he is training them “With haste” – for the Good News is an ur- for. But the journey to the villages is a long gent message which must be communicated. one – over half a day on foot – and that in The sooner it is spread, the more people it temperatures of up to 45°C. It is hard to go can reach and the greater the chance that the “with haste” in such conditions! star of goodwill will shine down on the world. Therefore, bicycles and cars are also A bicycle costs around €100. Will it be crucial to evangelisation. Father Desalegn thanks to your money, your goodwill, that we Whether in Uganda, Tanzania or – God Doelaso of Itang, Ethiopia, wants to give his can offer a catechist in Africa the gift of a willing – Ethiopia, bicycles are a tried and trusted aid for catechesis in Africa. 12 catechists bicycles, so that they can fre- bicycle?
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projects, and enable the pastoral work of Aid to the Church in Need.
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“Your aid enables us to respond to divine Providence”, writes Sister Brunilda of the Servants of Mary in Cuba. For only the grace of God would move hearts to establish a missionary religious community devoted to supporting the sick and elderly each night with prayer, comfort and medical aid. It is an exhausting yet wonderful mission, she tells us. For the loving God has granted this vocation to her and to the three other sisters, and now He has also ensured that they will have enough to live on. Night after night the sisters sit by the bedside of the sick in the hospitals. They give thanks to God for the generosity of ACN’s benefactors – and you may be sure that in this bedside vigil beside the sick they will not forget to pray for us all as well.
Need, love and thanks − your letters We too were refugees After WWII in Germany we received a lot of help from Father Werenfried. We are refugees ourselves and so were probably amongst those who received help. So my heart hurts when I hear and read about the people of Syria and Iraq and their suffering. Thanks be to God who always sends help in many ways. We want to be a little help, at least to our brothers and sisters for whom we pray daily for protection and relief from all this terrible suffering. So accept our donation for Father Khalil in Jordan and the Sisters of the Good Shepherd in Lebanon that they will be able to feed the children and help the refugee families. May the Lord in His Mercy turn all the tears and fears of these children of His into joyful songs and dancing. A married couple in Australia
moved by the poverty of the people in the war zones, and by their suffering. We admire their faith, their steadfastness in the face of evil, suffering and sickness. They have left their homes with almost nothing in the way of money, clothing, mementos – what terrible deprivation! We pray for them all. A married couple in France
A banquet for the needy In preparing to celebrate my 50th birthday, I remembered Christ’s words – when we give a banquet, we should invite those who can never repay us. And so the idea came to me that I should celebrate my 50th birthday by sending Aid to the Church in Need a sum sufficient to provide a festive banquet for family and friends. So now I am sending you a cheque for five hundred Euros, together A message of hope with a request to pray for me and my This gift is not so much a Christmas mes- beloved family. sage as a message of hope. We are deeply A benefactor in Portugal
Johannes Freiherr Heereman, Executive President, ACN (International)
Dear Friends, This year we have a special gift for those children in Homs who were unable to escape the violence. We want them to be able to associate Christmas with a feeling of joy. The Star of Bethlehem, the Wise Men from the East, the joy of redemption through the Child in the manger, the peace that the angels promise – all this is no more than a remote yet heartfelt longing for the Christians of the region where this feast was actually born. But the hellish side of Homs is very near, and it typifies many other similar places as well. That is why we are also preparing Christmas parcels for all the uprooted children in Iraq. Pope Benedict XVI’s words in Regensburg still hold good: “It is not violence that redeems, but love”. We can find this Love as a Child in the manger, and we can help this Child in his work of redemption – for example with these Christmas parcels. The theme of the international meeting of families in the coming year is “Love Is Our Mission: The Family Fully Alive”. It could also be our motto, when I see how much you have done throughout the past year for so many of your needy brothers and sisters in the Faith. I offer you my heartfelt thanks for this and want to tell you – if you will permit me a touch of sentimentality at Christmas time – how happy I am to be a member of the family of ACN.
Editors: Jürgen Liminski & Stephen Axisa Please use the envelope. Aid to the Church in Need, 39B Mdina Road, Publisher: Aid to the Church in Need, 39B Mdina Road, Attard ATD 9038 Attard ATD 9038; Tel: 21487818; Fax: 21586257 Printed in Malta Bank of Valletta Plc, IBAN MT89 VALL 2201 3000 0000 4002 2153 500 De licentia competentis auctoritatis Email: info@acnmalta.org – facebook//Aid to the Church in Need Malta Pass this leaflet on to your neighbours, friends or leave it at the Parish ecclesiasticae Church for others to review. www.acnmalta.org
Where to send your contribution for the Church in Need
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to ap o s y l i Fam
la t e
A source of renewal in Slovakia The goal is a simple one – to promote marriage, the family and relationships on the basis of Christian values. But in a country like Slovakia, where these very values were attacked for decades by the power of the state, it is often necessary to start right from the beginning – by explaining the meaning of marriage, showing how precious fidelity is, recognising forgiveness as the summit of love. Pope Francis speaks to us again and again of “the cure which God offers ... to spouses who ‘have become impatient on the way’ and who succumb to the dangerous temptation of discouragement, infidelity, weakness, abandonment…” It is the gift of “His Son Jesus, not to condemn them, but to save them: if they entrust themselves to him, he will bring them healing by the merciful love which pours forth from the Cross, with the strength of his grace that renews married couples and families and sets them once again on the right path.” Grace that renews and strengthens – through love: this is the simple essence of the programme in Rodinkovo and its Family House.
Source of strength for renewal: open-air Mass in front of the centre.
ships developing as family members mature, the sharing of joys and difficulties. Families are the first place in which we are formed as persons and, at the same time, the ‘bricks’ for the building up of society.”
In this house, married couples can make a fresh start, families can come together again, couples and parents can relearn “the creativity and power of love” – a love which, as Father Roman can tell us after two years running this centre, “God is always willing to give to families, to spouses, to consecrated persons and indeed to all of us”. Together with the lay group Familiae Locum, which regularly works in collaboration with the family and youth apostolate
services of the diocese of Žilina, he runs this centre, which was established a good two years ago by the diocese under the name of the “Open House for Families, Rodinkovo”. But this house is much more than a counselling centre for couples and families with problems. At the same time, it is a formation centre for priests, laity and catechists from all over Slovakia. With the help of its working seminars on the family apostolate within the parish, on Catholic social teaching, on the ‘Principles of Christian Democracy’, on motherhood and fatherhood; through its courses on marriage preparation and pastoral outreach to schools and universities, the house is becoming a place of renewal, in a Christian spirit, for the entire region. For, as Pope Francis puts it, “It is impossible to quantify the strength and depth of humanity contained in a family: mutual help, educational support, relation-
The many faces of motherhood: breaktime after the lecture.
Usefully occupied: the youngsters rehearsing for a play.
“Building bricks of society”: young families ready for an outing.
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The centre is normally able to fund itself through the course fees and contributions from visitors and participants. But now that winter is here, this warm-hearted old house is feeling the cold – and needs new windows and doors to better insulate against the outside wind and cold. The heating costs are enormous, and they estimate that by replacing the 154 windows and doors they could save a quarter of the cost – and then reinvest the money saved in the formation work. The only problem: they do not have the money to replace them. ACN has therefore promised €25,000 – so that this wellspring of renewal can continue to flow.
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Any donation you kindly give will go to support these, or similar
ears Ten y
af t er
Chapel roofs to keep out the “bad” water
The end of December 2004: The waters receded again, leaving only ruins. The homeless have sought refuge with Mother Church, as here outside the cathedral of Port Blair.
Death came just after Christmas. Ten years ago, on 26 December 2004, a terrible tsunami sprang from the depths of the Indian Ocean and laid waste to vast swathes of coastline in Indonesia, India and even Africa. Over 200,000 people lost their lives. Indian diocese of Port Blair on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands was also overwhelmed by the flood, with some islands disappearing altogether. The Kala Pani – or “black waters” – was the traditional name for the vast expanse of the ocean surrounding the islands; it indicated that life ended here. Before India’s independence these islands were a place of exile for many prisoners. More recently the islands have become something of a tourist paradise. But then, suddenly, the “black waters” were there again, sweeping thousands away to their death and obliterating the huts and houses. Horror had struck in paradise. Only the faith of the people stood firm, like a
Soon the chapel roof will be replaced with a watertight tin one.
rock, in the diocese that was still only 20 years old at the time. From the ruins and the suffering, new vocations sprang up. Of the 58 priests in the diocese today, no fewer than 13 are natives of these islands, while over 30 young local women have already taken their vows in congregations on the islands. When the tragedy struck, ACN was there with emergency aid and also promised help to rebuild the chapels. Now the time has come. These 14 parishes – with their 400 or so outstations and their total of some 40,000 Catholics – initially built prayer huts made of bamboo. But with rain falling for nine months of the year, and no shortage of it, the roofs could not keep out the water. They had to be replaced every year, and even then still leaked. Then the forestry commission banned the use of leaves and bamboos for building houses and huts. So Bishop Alex Dias promised the people: If you build the walls of stone and clay, we will find help for the corrugated iron roofs. He turned to ACN for help while the building work was ongoing. For it costs €1.045 for a roof of thin corrugated steel, but they cannot afford this. There are 15 chapels still at
projects, and enable the pastoral work of Aid to the Church in Need.
Counting on our help: Bishop Alex Dias of Port Blair.
the mercy of the elements, and they have used up their last reserves on roofing four of these. We have promised help (€11,500) for the remaining 11 chapels, before the monsoon rains set in. These courageous people have suffered greatly. Their bishop writes: “We have given everything. I sincerely hope that you can help us.” We cannot let him down now. And we are confident that you will not let them down either...
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