ISSUE No 3
FAITH ALIVE
RE-KINDLE HOPE FOR LEBANON
A call for URGENT ACTION
Helping the suffering Church today www.acnmalta.org
PAKISTAN We would One million Helping the have become Children praying Poorest Orphans the Rosary
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Thank you for your continued support for Aid to the Church in Need (Malta) and for staying in touch with the heart-breaking reality of our persecuted brothers and sisters in various countries. Your kind solidarity has done so much for Christians in need around the world and once again, I invite you to take out time to go through this interesting edition and if possible, help us give a lifeline to those in desperate need of our help. We are focusing this month on providing the desperately needed emergency help for our Christian brothers and sisters in Lebanon, following the tragic explosion which devastated the Country’s capital, Beirut in August 2020. This is true to our mandate as a Pontifical Charity and in union with the Holy Father who has asked us all to: “pray for the victims, for their families - for Lebanon, so that they are able to face this extremely tragic and painful moment, and with the help of the international community, overcome the grave crisis they are experiencing”. Aid to the Church in Need (Malta) is committed to supporting the most vital Christian presence in Lebanon. Relying on your kind generosity, we can continue to provide food to the hungry, medicine to the afflicted, clothing and sanitary items to our project partners who are on the ground, to dispense where they are most needed. May the Lord bless you as you stand in solidarity with Christians in need around the world and may Our Lady of Lebanon intercede for you and for the people of Lebanon at this very challenging time.
39b, Mdina Road, Attard, ATD 9038
Yours in Christ,
Call 00356 2148 7818 Email info@acnmalta.org Twitter @acn_malta Facebook Aid to the Church in Need Malta Instagram acn_malta
www.acnmalta.org Aid to the Church in Need is a Pontifical Foundation of the Catholic Church and registered in Malta Reg. No. LPF-212, as a Foundation regulated by the second schedule of the Civil Code Chapter (16) of the Laws of Malta.
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Stephen Axisa National Director Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Malta PS: As an international Catholic charitable foundation, which primarily strives to help nurture the Faith and well-being of persecuted and suffering Christians worldwide, ACN (Malta) supports important projects undertaken by the respective Christian dioceses (Bishops, Priests, Sisters and lay people) in over 140 countries. While ACN gives full permission for the media to freely make use of our publications, please acknowledge ACN as the source of stories when using the material.
RE-KINDLE HOPE FOR LEBANON More than one month after the explosion that killed hundreds and injured thousands when tonnes of ammonium nitrate ignited in a warehouse, Lebanon’s capital Beirut is far from back to normal.
Young Christian volunteers helping to clear the damaged Maronite Cathedral in Beirut
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Hundreds of Christian families have lost their homes and the means of earning a living; numerous hospitals and dispensaries are in urgent need of repair so that they can continue to attend to the most pressing needs; countless Church structures have been destroyed or badly damaged and, as this disaster comes on top of the coronavirus pandemic and an economic crisis, many families cannot even obtain the most basic necessities such as food, clothing and shelter. This situation has left hundreds of families with nothing. Describing the situation, Franciscan Friar and Superior of the Franciscan Monastery in Beirut, Fr Firas Lutfi OFM said to ACN (Malta): “I am in the middle of Beirut, surrounded by destruction. This explosion not only destroyed hospitals, schools, shops, streets, institutions and Churches but has also caused a deep trauma in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Lebanon”. Maronite Fr Charbel Eid verifies this in a letter he sent to ACN: “For the first time since I was born in 1980, in the midst of the civil war, I have seen a real loss of hope in the Lebanese people”.
Hot meals being distributed in Nabaa, one of the districts of Beirut most affected by the explosion
Youth volunteers helping to clean the Maronite Cathedral in Beirut, which has been damaged during the explosion
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Food packages being distributed to needy families through the Syriac Catholic Church
WHAT IS ACN (Malta) DOING? In response to this profound crisis, Aid to the Church in Need International has initiated an emergency appeal for Lebanon and, to support victims and their families. On our part, ACN (Malta) is raising €10,000 by the end of September. The €3,000 generated in Malta so far are being used to support the most urgent needs of Lebanese Christians on emergency food packages for poor families worst affected by the blast, but there is still a great deal to be done. Our project partners are already on the ground in Beirut providing tangible help in some of the worst-hit areas. As an international Foundation, Aid to the Church in Need has been working for decades with trusted project partners on different projects within Lebanon, mainly in the areas of pastoral care and ongoing support for refugees such as the Saint John the Merciful Table – a humanitarian feeding programme for refugee families, scholarships for displaced Syrian children, and church-run summer camps for young people.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Damages to buildings in Beirut
“Given this critical situation, we can only turn to you and beg your help and support as we attempt to save the life and presence of our Christian communities in Lebanon,” says Lebanese Maronite Priest, Fr Charbel Eid. With your kind help, Aid to the Church in Need (Malta) can reach thousands of families directly affected by the explosion. Your kind donation of €43 will provide a food basket for one family for one month. It will contain the ingredients. such as lentils, chickpeas, red beans, bulgur, rice, oil, tuna, pasteurized cheese, milk, sugar, salt, jam, needed to prepare daily meals. Be part of this great stream of generosity in aid of thousands of Christian families in Lebanon.
Donations can be sent via:
OUR WEBSITE: www.acnmalta.org/donate
GO GET FUNDING: https://bit.ly/lebanon-donate
BANK TRANSFER: Bank Name: APS Bank, Attard Branch Name: Aid to the Church in Need Malta Foundation IBAN: MT72 APSB 7705 7008 5772 2000 1771 733 Swift /BIC Code: APS BMT MT | Sort Code 77057
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SUCCESS STORY
PAKISTAN:
HELPING THE POOREST IN THE MIDDLE OF THE PANDEMIC
COVID-19 relief -Priests blessing the food packages
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Thanks to the generosity of benefactors, ACN has so far helped more than 20,000 Christian faithful in Pakistan, being the poorest of the poor, who have suffered most from the coronavirus pandemic in this Asian country. Suffering persecution and discrimination, most Christians in the country have inadequate housing and sanitation, and have to accept menial jobs where hygiene is poor and wages are the lowest. When the pandemic came, many lost even these jobs and the catastrophe deepened when aid organisations refused to give food to Christians, reportedly putting pressure on them to convert. ACN project partner Cecil Shane Chaudhry, Executive Director of the National Commission for Justice and Peace, told us: “COVID-19 knows no boundaries – everyone is at risk. So how can it be fair to deny food and other emergency help to Christians and other minorities especially when they are among those suffering most at this time?”
Determined to stop the risk of starvation, Aid to the Church in Need’s response was swift: Food for 3,000 families, including widows, orphans and jobless people in the Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi Urgent assistance for 2,000 of the neediest families in the Archdiocese of Lahore Food for 350 needy families in the Diocese of Faisalabad School/college fees for 200 students from families affected by COVID-19 Face masks, COVID-19 protection and sanitation equipment for the Clergy and volunteers on the frontline Mass stipends for 70 Priests in the Archdiocese of Lahore.
Aneel Mushtaq, the Executive Secretary of Caritas Pakistan, ACN’s partner in this project, told us: “The aid you have provided to us via ACN has helped save many people from starvation. Many people had absolutely nothing to put on the table or feed their families with, and were in a state of extreme anguish.” This aid comes on top of ACN’s ongoing work to help Christians in Pakistan survive persecution and we dearly wish to continue reaching out to them so that they can be reassured that they are not forgotten. Help us to help them.
Recipients of ACN COVID-19 aid say “Thank you”
Please “Help us support those in Need” thank you 9
One Million Children praying the Rosary
For unity and peace On the 19th October www.acnmalta.org
info@acnmalta.org
Worldwide prayer event of Aid to the Church in Need to be held on Sunday, 18th October at 9am (anywhere you are), or on Monday 19th October at 9am in schools. ACN (Malta) invites schools, nurseries, parishes and families to participate in the event called “One Million Children Praying the Rosary” on 18 or 19 October. The focus of the prayer campaign is worldwide unity and peace.
supported the campaign since 2008 and took over the organisation of the entire event two years ago.
What is this Prayer Campaign about?
We have prepared some material for you to spread the word and get inspired.
“In many countries, children in particular, are suffering from the effects of war and persecution,” according to Fr Martin Barta, the International Ecclesiastical of Aid to the Church in Need. He believes that the Rosary campaign is a good opportunity for children as well to express their solidarity. The children’s Rosary campaign was initiated in 2005 in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas. While a number of children were praying the Rosary at a wayside shrine, several persons present recalled Saint Padre Pio saying: “When one million children pray the Rosary, the world will change.” The campaign quickly spread across the world. ACN has
How can You Join the Campaign?
“Our materials for the prayer campaign are available in 25 languages including Maltese. Children from around 80 countries and on all continents will be participating. It is truly a campaign of the world church.” Fr Barta said.
To order the materials and to get more information on the prayer campaign send an email to info@acnmalta.org or call +356 2148 7818. 11
KAYA:
WE WOULD HAVE BECOME ORPHANS Their faces radiant with joy, children dressed in their white robes, dancing and singing, clapping their hands and praying to God. In Kaya, a provincial capital in Burkina Faso, nothing can overshadow the joy of celebrating the First Holy Communion. For a brief moment, the children can forget the horrors they have experienced and the difficulties they face day after day.
Refugee children displaced to Kaya, Burkina Faso after receiving first Holy Communion
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“The children are originally from Dablo. They came here fleeing from terrorism,” Fr Gabriel Bamogo explained to ACN. Located in the western part of Africa, Burkina Faso has taken a beating. Once an oasis of stability and internal peace, the country has been drifting ever deeper into chaos since 2015. Jihadists and criminal gangs are inflicting violence upon large parts of the predominantly Muslim country. Almost one million people have become refugees in their own country – bleak prospects for the people living in one of the poorest countries in the world. Christians, who make up about 30% of the population, are badly affected. Tens of thousands have fled from the regions that are under attack by terrorists. Many Christians have sought refuge in the diocese of Kaya. One of the children, Elisabeth Bamogo was born in 2007 and came to Kaya in May of 2019. She and her parents fled to safety following a terrorist attack on Christians in the village of Dablo. Last year, jihadists on motorcycles, armed with machine guns, attacked the Catholic church during Sunday mass. Fr Simeon, the village Priest, was killed, along with five other men in the congregation. Before fleeing and setting fire to the church, the murderers threatened the people, “Convert to Islam. If you don’t, you will face a death sentence when we return”. Elisabeth looks back on these events on the day of her First Holy Communion. “We could no longer stay in our home. It was intolerable. There, we felt threatened every day,” she said.
“Those who are searching for us have no mercy. They may not kill children, but they will kill our parents. We would have become orphans.” After the horrors she experienced in her village, Elisabeth is even more grateful that she was able to receive the First Holy Communion. “Today is a special day for me. I thank God for this. Because of the difficult situation, I did not think that I would be able to receive the Sacraments anymore.” Elisabeth is full of hope. “In the difficult situation my parents and I are currently facing, I count on Jesus. I have Faith in Him.” Étienne Sawadogo feels the same way. “In spite of everything, we are happy because we hope in Him to Whom we pray each day.” Étienne is also grateful to experience his First Holy Communion. Born in 2006, the boy grew up in a small village near Dablo. He also fled to Kaya with his parents. “We saw how mercilessly they killed. That could have happened to us as well. That is why we fled.” Étienne should have received his First Holy Communion last year in Dablo, however, the precarious security situation made this impossible – and the boy is all the happier now. “I have received the Body and Blood of Christ. This has strengthened my Faith,” he said. In 2019 – 2020, ACN supported almost 100 projects in Burkina Faso. In the diocese of Kaya, the Catholic charity supports Priests through Mass stipends and provides funding for the training of Seminarians.
Please “Help us support those in Need” thank you 13
A
C s ’ h i n ld ible C B
This ACN classic 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:
Helps children learn how to read
A perfect gift for First Holy Communion
BUY ONE AND PROVIDE THREE MORE 14
The first introduction to The Scriptures for many adults
A vital tool for families to develop their Faith
Brings spiritual comfort to those enduring their personal Way of the Cross
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. For more information contact us now by sending us an email on info@acnmalta.org
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