Read Inspiring stories
…of faith-strong men and women around the world who are shining the light of Christ even in the darkest parts of the world.
HOW TO use this magazine PLAY VIDEO
Catch a quick glimpse
Click on “play video” to catch a quick glimpse of the reach and impact of ACN’s work around the world.
A word from the National Director
After marking our 7th anniversary last month, I present to you this month’s edition of Faith Alive. This ushers us into another 12 months of action as Malta’s National Office of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the Catholic Charity dedicated to supporting the Christian faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need.
As our Charity launches another year of activity in Malta, we want to thank you from the bottom of our heart. I extend our gratitude on behalf of all our project partners around the world, who offer their deep thankfulness and God’s blessings on this very special occasion. Your interest, solidarity and charity are an assurance to them that they are not forgotten and alone but, in fact, belong to a community of Faith united beyond geographical borders by the love of Christ and for Christ.
Help us support those in need
We invite you to consider making a donation to help us fund key projects which provide essential aid to Christians in need around the world.
Inside this issue, you will find interesting articles about ACN Malta’s work in the last seven years, how the generosity of our kind benefactors is bringing hope and solace to our persecuted brothers and sisters, as well as excerpts from ACN’s latest report on “Religious Freedom in the World”. The full report can be read at https://acninternational.org/religiousfreedomreport
As you read through this publication, it is our hope that you will be better informed about our brothers and sisters facing persecution in different parts of the world. Hopefully, you will be also inspired by the fruits of generosity which give hope to their plight.
If you like to know more about the work of Aid to the Church in Need, or would like to reprint any of the articles in this magazine, please do get in touch.
United in prayer,
Stephen Axisa National Director
SUCCESS STORY
7 YEARS OF SPREADING THE LIGHT AND GIVING HOPE
Seven years of impacting the darkest corners of the world with the light of Christ’s love is yet another milestone of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in Malta. ACN is bringing hope and comfort to hundreds of thousands of people who suffer for not renouncing their Faith.
Founded on 13th May 2014 as the Maltese national office of the 75 year old international pontifical foundation, ACN (Malta) has taken the lead as one of the leading Catholic charities in Malta and the only international Catholic organisation dedicated to helping persecuted and oppressed Christians around the world.
Through the years, the Foundation joined efforts with the 23 other national offices of the international foundation to fund, on a yearly basis, over 5,000 projects in more than 140 countries. The Charity provides emergency aid for affected Christians and refugees; supports the building and reconstruction of destroyed homes, Churches and religious centres; funds the formation of Priests and Religious; provides transport for pastoral work particularly in remote areas; and publishes and distributes copies of Faith materials such as the ACN Child’s Bible, YOUCAT and DOCAT among others. ACN (Malta) also particularly helps Maltese missionaries, Priests, Religious and Lay Maltese/Gozitans in various projects they might need.
THROUGH THE YEARS…
2014
ACN (Malta) funded the refurbishment of the Youth Centre run by the Daughters of the Sacred Heart in Diwa, Bataan, Philippines.
2016
In Portoviejo, Ecuador, ACN (Malta) assisted after a major earthquake devastated the city, killing hundreds and rendering thousands homeless and without work. The Diocese was no longer able to raise funds locally to support the 40 seminarians who were training there, the majority of whom came from poor families who had lost everything in the earthquake. ACN (Malta) stepped in to support their training for the Priesthood.
ACN (Malta) funded the provision of furniture for the annexe block of St Peter Primary School and for the study hall of the Orphanage directed by the Dominican Sisters of Malta.
2017
As part of the Nineveh Reconstruction Committee, ACN began the rebuilding of houses of over 12,000 homes of Christian refugees in Iraq, helping them return to their villages, after they were destroyed by ISIS in 2014.
ACN (Malta) organised over 5,500 children from 24 schools throughout the Maltese islands in a fundraising campaign to help some of the most deprived children in Syria to get an education. The campaign provided 195 scholarships for children from the poorest families whose parents could not otherwise afford to send them to school.
The “Console my People” prayer campaign for Syrian Christians was organised by ACN for families whose loved ones were abducted or killed during the eight years of the conflict. The National Director of ACN (Malta), Stephen Axisa. witnessed the blessing of the icon of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Sorrows and Consolatrix of the Syrian People by Pope Francis at the Casa Santa Marta in the Vatican.
ACN (Malta) contributed towards legal assistance for Asia Bibi and other Christians on the death row in Pakistan. Asia Bibi was acquitted that year.
ACN (Malta) supported the formation of 48 Seminarians for the Diocese of Dumka in India.
ACN (Malta) provided emergency aid and trauma healing programmes for families affected by the Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka.
In the wake of the deadly explosion in Beirut on 4th August last year, which killed and injured many, mostly Christians, destroyed livelihoods and rendered about 300,000 people homeless, ACN (Malta) provided urgent help to those in critical need, providing food parcels for 5,000 families in need for a month.
With the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, ACN (Malta) embarked on a special prayer action with over 35 contemplative monasteries joining in a “prayer chain” for the world especially for ACN partners and benefactors affected by the pandemic.
ACN (Malta) provided emergency food packages and sanitary kits for poor communities in Ukraine, Brazil, Pakistan, India and Mozambique whose suffering has been exacerbated by the Coronavirus pandemic. Part of the project also involved helping Priests and Nuns caring for the most vulnerable communities around the world.
SOME ONGOING PROJECTS
HELP AND PROTECT
CHRISTIAN TEENAGE GIRLS IN PAKISTAN
ACN (Malta) is supporting a nationwide programme to help protect teenage girls who are being kidnapped, raped, forced to marry and renounce Christianity. This support covers legal aid, awareness campaigns and catechesis/spiritual/psychological support for these girls and their respective families.
GIVING YOUNG IRAQI CHRISTIANS HOPE OF A BETTER FUTURE
This is ACN’s Scholarship project for young Iraqi Christians studying at the Catholic University of Erbil to give them the hope of a better future in their own country. Many of them belong to displaced communities driven out of their homes by ISIS and are struggling to start a new life in Erbil.
Please “Help us support those in Need” thank you
ST JOHN THE MERCIFUL TABLE
provides a daily hot meal for over 1,000 Christian refugees in Lebanon.
DROP OF MILK PROJECT
provides milk for malnourished children under the age of 10 in Syria.
At a time when the humanitarian and pastoral needs of our persecuted brothers and sisters are at an all-time high, due to a global increase in persecution and suffering, further exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, ACN (Malta) renews its commitment to continue on this life-saving mission. The times are crucial and the needs are great. The time to act is now. Join us, for together we can do more.
A BEACON OF HOPE IS RISING IN IRAQ
Young Iraqi students at the Catholic University of Erbil (CUE)
In the past 10 years, the number of Christians in Iraq has decreased dramatically. A census conducted during Saddam Hussein’s presidency found that there were 1.4 million Christians there.
During the launch of ACN’s Religious Freedom Report (2021) in Malta, the Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil said: “In the years prior to 2003, we numbered as many as one-and-a-half million – six percent of Iraq’s population. Today, there are perhaps as few as 250,000 of us left. Maybe less.”
Erbil is the capital of the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq, where a significant part of the remaining Iraqi Christian population now live. There is a persistent underlying sense of insecurity there, owing above all to the tense economic situation. As a result, young people are faced with the dilemma of staying put or emigrating. Any further decrease in the number of Christians in Iraq could mean the extinction of Christianity in that country. In the face of this challenge and in search of a solution, Archbishop Warda founded a University - one that would be “a beacon of light and a symbol of hope, especially for the younger generation”.
Founded in December 2015, the Catholic University in Erbil is today the only Catholic University in Iraq and seeks to offer a tangible solution by providing young people with better prospects for the future.
ACN’s Executive President, Dr Thomas Heine-Geldern said: “The Catholic University of Erbil is a project of crucial importance for those Christians who wish to stay on in northern Iraq and Kurdistan, since it will help them to find a decent employment and remain. The Christians would
not think of abandoning their country if they did not feel obliged to do so by forces beyond their control. If young Christians can be given an opportunity to gain a good education, then they will remain.
ACN has already done everything possible to help the Christians to stay on in their native land, by investing in the reconstruction of their homes, their churches and essential infrastructure. Now is the time to initiate this major project, which is a very ambitious one for us, and invest in the young people of the country.”
Immediately following the visit of Pope Francis to Iraq, ACN is now prioritising a new project to provide scholarships’ support for young Iraqi Christians who are unable to afford tertiary education. The project is aimed at offering university scholarships to 150 students at the Catholic University of Erbil, for the next four years.
Most of the students at the University are refugees or internally displaced from various other parts of Iraq, including Baghdad, Basra, Diala, Duhok, Kirkuk, Nineveh/ Mosul, Sinjar and Sulaimaniya.
Dr Heine-Geldern said: “We believe that this project will support the Pope’s message in favour of social cohesion and reconciliation. The University is centred around diversity – with 72% Christians, 10% Muslims and 18% Yazidis. Here, young people of different creeds can learn to live together in harmony.”
The Catholic University of Erbil
SHOCKING REVELATIONS
Countries with Significant Violations of Religious Freedom
OSCE Countries pages: 35-37
LATIN AMERICA and Caribbean pages: 40-41
East and West AFRICA pages: 17-19
MIDDLE EAST and North
pages: 30-32
ASIA
pages: 26-27 Mainland ASIA pages: 22-23
https://youtu.be/3ajiduZrIa4
Highlights from ACN’s latest report on Religious Freedom in the World 2021:
Religious Freedom is violated in almost one third of the world’s countries (31.6%), where two thirds of the world’s population live
62 countries out of a total of 196 face very severe violations of Religious Freedom. The number of people living in these countries is close to 5.2 billion
The worst offenders of Religious Freedom include some of the most populous nations in the world (including China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nigeria)
ACN’s classifications are as follow:
The Red category denotes the existence of persecution. Includes 26 countries which are home to 3.9 billion people or just over half (51%) of the world’s population. This classification includes 12 African countries and two countries where investigations of possible genocide are ongoing, namely China and Myanmar (Burma)
The Orange category denotes the existence of discrimination. Includes 36 countries, home to 1.24 billion people. Slight improvements are identified in nine countries, while the situation in 20 countries is worsening
New technology is being used to crush Religious Freedom. The report found that digital technology, cyber networks, surveillance including artificial intelligence (AI)
and facial recognition technology were primary grounds of increased persecution in many of the nations with the worst Religious Freedom record
There is a rise of transnational Islamist networks, “spreading across the Equator” and creating a “crescent of jihadist violence” from Mali to the Philippines, taking in Comoros in the Indian Ocean, with the aim of creating what the report calls “transcontinental caliphates”
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased persecution, as societal prejudice against minorities, including in Turkey and Pakistan, meant that some Faith groups were denied food and other vital aid
There has been an increase in cases where sexual violence is used as a weapon against religious minorities. Many of these crimes against women and girls have been reported by ACN and have happened in Pakistan
In the West, there has been a rise in “polite persecution”, a phrase coined by Pope Francis to describe how new cultural norms and values have consigned religions to “the quiet obscurity of the individual conscience”, making it more difficult for people of Faith to access the public square.
IN 62 COUNTRIES THERE ARE VIOLATIONS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM (31.6%)
36 countries suffer discrimination (18.6%)
26 countries suffer persecution (13%)
1 in every 3 countries in the world suffer violations of religious freedom
VIOLATIONS IN 23 OF 54 AFRICAN COUNTRIES
of countries suffer violations of religious freedom
67% of the world's population - 5.2 billion - live in countries* where grave violations of freedom religious occur
* In many of them religious minorities are the most targeted
WHO IS VIOLATING RELIGIOUS FREEDOM?*
In 12 of these countries persecution is extreme
In 30 countries people have been killed in acts of religious hatred since the middle of 2018 Ethnic/religious Nationalists
21% 42% of countries
INHABITANTS 1.6 2.9 1.2
* Some of these countries are included in more than one group
Changing or renouncing your religion can have grave legal and/or social consequences in
42 COUNTRIES
IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
JIHADISM IS ASPIRING TO BECOME A TRANSCONTINENTAL “CALIPHATE” disproportionate restrictions on religious practice and worship denial of humanitarian aid to religious minorities stigmatization of religious groups accused of spreading the virus increased jihadism in areas outside government control and recruitment via the Internet
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WF4B9YkmiCM
For the first time ever, Aid to the Church in Need has set aside a special day to appreciate and pray for its benefactors, whose kind generosity makes it possible to carry on its works of charity in aid of persecuted and suffering Christians around the world.
The Feast day of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (11th June) has been chosen as ACN’s Benefactors’ Day. ACN and its project partners throughout the world prayed and celebrated Holy Masses on this day for the intentions of all the benefactors who support ACN through its 24 worldwide national offices.
“We have chosen the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus for this Benefactors’ Day since their generosity has its source and strength in the imitation of the Merciful Love of the Heart of God”, says Fr Martin Barta, the ecclesiastical assistant of ACN.
Last year, ACN’s 5,000+ projects were actively supported by a total of over 365,000 individual benefactors in 24 different countries. ACN does not receive any official funding from the Church or any State bodies, and
is funded entirely by private donations of individual benefactors. The number of ACN’s friends and benefactors actually increased in 2020 by 8% over the year 2019, and this happened despite the coronavirus pandemic. This was a sign of God’s providence, so that ACN was able to continue, and even intensify, its support for the suffering and needy Christians in 138 different countries.
The Poor Clare Sisters in Antsirabe, Madagascar, have sent us a touching letter on this occasion:
“We want to express our heartfelt thanks to you on this Benefactors’ Day, for all your help, which has transformed our life here. In 2018 we were in real financial difficulties and could not even afford to pay for our electricity or food. You were our salvation, a true friend to whom we could turn, in our need! Then last year and again this year you
have worked miracles in our life by bringing us well on the way to being self-sufficient. Your help for the extension of our spiritual centre was enormously important to our future. The revenue from visiting guests who use our centre is helping us to cover at least part of our daily living expenses. You have helped us to begin a new chapter in our history, and thanks to you we can now look forward to a more secure future.”
Bishop Jaime Uriel Sanabria Arias from the Apostolic Vicariate of San Andrés y Providencia on the coast of Colombia also wrote to ACN. The region under his care is only just beginning to recover from a devastating hurricane which swept through the islands of the region in November 2020:
“ACN was already expressing its solidarity through its helpful presence while we were still barely able to travel through our region. This experience of the presence of the Universal Church during such difficult times is a transformative experience, since it enables us to feel the closeness, care and loving concern of the Mother Church”.
Bishop Jaime writes, adding, “Dear benefactors, to all of you, your help made it possible to support our Priests, who in turn took this help to our people, supporting and strengthening the faith of the Christian communities,
above all so that they were not deprived of the bread of the Eucharist. And with your help we were also able to repair and rebuild the ruined buildings, the churches and parish houses, which are such precious centres for our evangelising work. Please be assured, dear benefactors, that your generosity has made a huge difference. Our vicariate is praying for you and will remember you very specially in the celebration of the Eucharist.”
Fr Habila Daboh, Rector of Good Shepherd Seminary, Kaduna in northern Nigeria where four Seminarians were kidnapped and one of them killed, also sent a letter of thanks to ACN. He says:
“I thank ACN for the hard and good work you are doing. You have, through the practical deeds of the benefactors, put a huge smile on our faces. We are now having a tall, fortified and bard wired wall fence round the Seminary. We have our new Chapel, we have a new dining hall and all these were made possible by your kind generosity. You mean a lot to us and we would not have been able to do these ourselves.”
Please “Help us support those in Need” thank you
Carmelite Sisters saying thank you to ACN
Fr Rogério ecclesiastical assistant of ACN (Brazil) with Maria Ignez N Bueno (sitting), a benefactor of ACN since 1997 - and her sister Isolina Bueno also a benefactor
Kiddies Corner
Matching & Describing
Prayer – God always has Time
God is available 24 hours a day. He is always available, for all people in all countries! For example, in which everyday situations can you hear him? Read the texts in the text boxes and assign them to the corresponding pictures. The YOUCAT for Kids will help you with this as well. Have fun!
“Everythingis going to be all right!”
“Look, how wonderful!” “ Listen , isn’titbeautiful!?”
“Doyouknow how proud I am of you?”
“Doyou understand that I mean you?”
“Canyou feel that I’m with you?”
www.youcat.org/y4k
Sometimes he will say that when you are listening to your favourite music.
Sometimes he will say that to you through a word in Sacred Scripture.
Sometimes he will say that through your mother, when she comforts you.
Sometimes he will say that when the sun is shining and the flowers are blooming.
Sometimes he will say that in bed at night, when everything is quiet.
Sometimes he will say that through the tears of a child that is being teased.
Sometimes he will say that through the eyes of your father, who is proud of you.
www.youcat.org/y4k
Child’ s Bible
Child’ s Bible
THIS ACN CLASSIC PUBLICATION PRESENTS KEY STORIES FROM THE BIBLE TO CHILDREN AGED SIX TO NINE. WITH 51 MILLION COPIES IN MORE THAN 189 LANGUAGES BEING PRINTED AND DISTRIBUTED ALL OVER THE WORLD SINCE 1979, THIS LITTLE ILLUSTRATED BIBLE IS :
Helping children learn how to read
The first introduction to The Scriptures for many adults Bringing spiritual comfort to those enduring their personal Way of the Cross A perfect gift for First Holy Communion A vital tool for families to develop their Faith
BUY ONE AND PROVIDE THREE MORE
We receive requests for as many as one million Child’s Bibles each year. You can help us to meet that demand – each Child’s Bible you buy from us enables us to send three more to needy children around the world.