Priests also use Mass offerings to help the poor in their communities
UNDERSTANDING
MASS OFFERINGS “The Mass is the most perfect form of prayer,” Pope Paul VI
In this way the Christian faithful expressed their desire to participate more intensely and meaningfully in the Eucharistic sacrifice, by adding to it a form of sacrifice of their own by which they contribute in a particular way to the needs of the Church and especially to the sustenance of its Ministers and works of mercy. Formerly, this contribution consisted predominantly of gifts in kind. In our day, it has become almost exclusively monetary. However, the motive and purpose of the faithful’s donation have remained the same. The practice and administration of the offerings for the celebration of Holy Mass are very accurately sanctioned by the new Code of Canon Law. (CIC 945-958). Mass stipends given through ACN help
www.acnmalta.org
THEY HAVE ABANDONED EVERYTHING FOR THE CALL…
Priests saying Mass in one of the underground shelters during the war in Ukraine
The custom of giving an offering for the celebration of Holy Mass has been a constant ecclesiastical practice, which goes back to the early Church, when the faithful brought bread and wine for the celebration of the Holy Mass, and other gifts for the support of Priests and the poor.
Aid to the Church in Need
MASS OFFERINGS
acnmalta.org/mass-stipends
The most beautiful gift you can give is the gift of a Mass offering
poor Priests in need around the world with basic subsistence, including housing, food, clothing, heating, medication, hygiene, and transportation. In some dioceses, Priests use Mass offerings to pay their health and social security insurance as they focus on pastoral care in challenging circumstances. Very often, Priests use their Mass stipends to assist poor and needy people in their parishes and to finance their pastoral activities. Mass offerings are also used to support the formation of prospective Priests in the Congregations and diocesan seminaries, or for further studies of the Priest, particularly for their books. Mass offerings can help Priests, too, with spiritual retreats and pilgrimages. These are necessary to sustain them both spiritually, physically and psychologically in their constant ardous mission. For countless Priests around the world, Mass Offerings are the only source of income they have. Thousands of Priests from all over the world ask for Mass stipends each year from ACN through their Bishops or Superiors. Most of these Priests serve in countries where Christians are discriminated, oppressed, or even persecuted. In many places, the faithful
are so poor that they cannot provide even a basic living for their Priest. For all of these Priests, Mass stipends are most often the only source of income and also represent an important resource for their evangelisation efforts. Therefore, Mass stipends join together the two great works of mercy: prayer and almsgiving. These Priests, many of whom live in dangerous conditions each day – for being living testimony of the Christian faith - deeply appreciate the generosity of donors. They consider it a profound honor to be celebrating Masses for the intentions of donors. Along with those for healing, for the deceased and for special intentions, the Priests we support celebrate Triduum, Novena and Gregorian Masses. Triduum Masses are three Masses celebrated on three consecutive days; Novenas are nine Masses said on nine consecutive days; and Gregorian Masses are celebrated on 30 consecutive days for one deceased person. These Masses of three, nine and 30 days do not have to be celebrated by a single individual Priest; instead a number of Priests may share in them.
Aid to the Church in Need (Malta), 35, Mdina Road, Attard, ATD 9038 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. VO/2227
PLEASE DO NOT ABANDON THEM Missionary Priest Fr Kenneth Iwunna at a village chapel in Kububa, Ethiopia
“Thanks for your support... do not abandon us...please.” These words of appreciation and appeal from an Italian Salesian missionary serving the Diocese of Gizo on the Western Solomon Islands represents the voice of thousands of missionary Priests who have left the comfort and safety of their home countries and embraced a life of sacrifice, dangers – sometimes deadly ones - and dedicated service for the sake of the Gospel. These missionaries have left everything to obey the Lord’s command to tend
the flock and keep watch over the faithful entrusted to their care. In many instances, the faithful are poor communities, struggling under the weight of discrimination, persecution and suffering, with no one else to turn to, but the Christian Missionaries as their only and last source of hope. This is where Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) comes in. ACN supports these missionary Priests with Mass offerings to provide them with basic subsistence, including housing, food, clothing, heating, medication, hygiene and transportation, and also empower them to attend to the needs of the faithful under their pastoral care. Fr. Damiano, a missionary Priest of
If you wish to receive this leaflet by post please send us your contact details via SMS on 7999 9969
the Holy Spirit Fathers works in Malawi where the economic situation has become more acute due to COVID-19. He explains how Mass stipends are of great help at a time like this. He says “Our parishioners have lost most of their livelihoods and earnings, and they are not able to offer us any support. This is why your help in the form of Mass stipends is so timely and immensely appreciated. This help will not only benefit us but it will impact on the thousands of persons that we serve in our parishes and communities.” In the Solomon Islands, Bishop Luciano Capelli faces the tremendous challenge of ministering to around 11,000 Catholics, scattered over a vast area and on many
Bishop Luciano Capelli and priests of the diocese
indeed for the poor Bishop who spends most of his time asking for money to survive. “Rest assured of our commitment to celebrate all the Masses ‘pie, actente ac devote’ (piously, attentively and devoutly)”. These Missionaries have given themselves wholeheartedly to the service of God’s people. They have abandoned comfort and safety in their home countries, to share in the life of God’s
people in some of the world’s poorest communities and difficult environments. They look up to us for help as they have nothing of their own. They look up to us to help them attend even to basic needs that they cannot afford due to their abject poverty. Please do not abandon them. Give a Mass offering today and you will be helping a Missionary fulfill his Godgiven mission.
MASS OFFERINGS: ACN’S HELP MAKES A REAL DIFFERENCE
@acn_malta
We remain grateful and we pray God may continue to replenish the source from which you get the means to provide for us.” Archbishop Volodymyr from Ukraine also wrote: “Your Mass stipends are a tremendous help to all our Priests in need. You can’t imagine how important and necessary your Mass stipends are for our Priests in these difficult and terrible days. On behalf of all our Priests in need, we thank you for your very great help and your solidarity with our Clergy!” With every Mass offering you give through ACN, you are making a real difference in the lives of Priests and poor Christian communities around the world. Please, consider giving a Mass offering today.
SUCCESS STORY: OFFERINGS THAT BEAR FRUITS
Fr Emmanuel Francis Allie of the Diocese of Freetown is a case in point. His country, Sierra Leone has a long story of constant suffering, from a cruel civil war and massive poverty, following the Ebola epidemic of 2014 to a string of natural disasters. Fr Emmanuel and other Priests have been involved in the mission of helping the people in all their spiritual and material needs. Many of them are working in parishes where there is neither electricity nor running water, no vehicles, and no other means of communication. The Archdiocese itself is very poor and already could not help its Priests with all the funding they actually need, while the coronavirus has made things even worse. Fr Emmanuel tells ACN that last year was a crisis-ridden year for them, especially due to the hardship caused by
Fr Percy in the community of Shawy de Copal, Peru
@acn_malta
otherwise be unaffordable. Most of the Priests not only use Mass offerings for their own subsistence, but are also able to cover some of the costs of their pastoral activities with them. These offerings actually make it possible for Priests to carry out their pastoral work and without this aid, these Priests would not be able to carry out their mission. This “Thank You Note” from Fr Ignatius of the Diocese of Kumbo, Cameroun, gives a clear picture: “I write to sincerely thank you for the continuous support you have been giving to my community through the Mass stipends you have been sending to us. This has greatly helped to put food on our table, support our transport to the suburbs to better evangelise and provide structures to communities without place of worship.
Imagine a Priest juggling between his pastoral work and secular jobs in an effort to provide for his needs and the needs of the faithful entrusted to his pastoral care? This has been the unfortunate situation of many Priests serving in some of the world’s poorest communities.
At the heart of ACN’s mission is ensuring continuous support for Missionaries and the faithful in different and difficult parts of the world where the Church is poor, persecuted, suffering or in dire pastoral need. One of the most important and effective ways this has been achieved through the years has been through the gift of Mass offerings from our generous benefactors.
2148 7818
Last year, a total of 52,879 Priests, in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, received support in the form of Mass offerings. These numbers mean that approximately one in every eight Priests in the world benefited from this aid. Every 15 seconds, a Mass is celebrated somewhere in the world for the intentions of ACN benefactors who make this work possible. In many regions today, the faithful are so poor that they cannot support their Priests. Even the Bishops often lack the financial means to provide their Priests with regular support. In fact, for Priests in the poorest countries of the world, Mass offerings are often their sole means of support and vital to their very survival. Basic necessities such as shoes, medication and even food would
acnmalta.org/mass-stipends
different islands (roughly 40). To reach the faithful on the various islands, the Priests have to travel for many hours by boat, and then in many cases make long and difficult journeys on foot through the bush. More Priests are needed, but the diocese is poor, and the Bishop is already struggling to support the Priests he currently has. On top of this, there is the financial responsibility for the formation of new vocations, to say nothing of the Herculean and still unfinished task of repairing and rebuilding the churches and other church buildings destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami of 2017. Mgr Capelli pours out his heart: I am the only Salesian, here, carrying on the hard task for the last 13 years, with two more years to go. Please do not leave us alone, we still need your help. The regular amount of Mass intentions you gave in the past is one third of our yearly need and €5 per Mass stipend is equal to 80% of the daily stipend for each Priest” a big help
Aid to the Church in Need Malta
Fr Emmanuel Francis Allie joined the fishermen to fish in order to get his daily meal during COVID-19
the pandemic. He described how he had to join fishermen to go fishing every day in order to earn his daily living. “Every day, during the crisis, I had to go out after Morning Prayer, working with the fishermen to earn my daily bread,” he said. ACN stepped in to help Fr Emmanuel and his fellow Priests in the Archdiocese of Freetown with Mass offerings for the entire year. The Priests celebrated Holy Masses for the intentions of respective benefactors who gave Mass offerings - a gift freely given by the faithful as a gesture of gratitude and support.
In his letter, Fr Emmanuel says: “I am so grateful for the Mass stipends you have sent to us. May the Lord continue to bless you abundantly.” Thanks to the help of ACN benefactors, now he and his fellow Priests can focus and dedicate their time to pastoral care and charitable activities in their respective communities. Your kind gift of a Mass offering can help Priests like Fr Emmanuel in their trying moments, so that they can focus specifically on their pastoral ministry. Please give a Mass offering today.
You may wish to offer a donation by visiting www.acnmalta.org/donate or through APS Bank IBAN: MT72 APSB 7705 7008 5772 2000 1771 733
acnmalta.org
Bishop Luciano Capelli and priests of the diocese
indeed for the poor Bishop who spends most of his time asking for money to survive. “Rest assured of our commitment to celebrate all the Masses ‘pie, actente ac devote’ (piously, attentively and devoutly)”. These Missionaries have given themselves wholeheartedly to the service of God’s people. They have abandoned comfort and safety in their home countries, to share in the life of God’s
people in some of the world’s poorest communities and difficult environments. They look up to us for help as they have nothing of their own. They look up to us to help them attend even to basic needs that they cannot afford due to their abject poverty. Please do not abandon them. Give a Mass offering today and you will be helping a Missionary fulfill his Godgiven mission.
MASS OFFERINGS: ACN’S HELP MAKES A REAL DIFFERENCE
@acn_malta
We remain grateful and we pray God may continue to replenish the source from which you get the means to provide for us.” Archbishop Volodymyr from Ukraine also wrote: “Your Mass stipends are a tremendous help to all our Priests in need. You can’t imagine how important and necessary your Mass stipends are for our Priests in these difficult and terrible days. On behalf of all our Priests in need, we thank you for your very great help and your solidarity with our Clergy!” With every Mass offering you give through ACN, you are making a real difference in the lives of Priests and poor Christian communities around the world. Please, consider giving a Mass offering today.
SUCCESS STORY: OFFERINGS THAT BEAR FRUITS
Fr Emmanuel Francis Allie of the Diocese of Freetown is a case in point. His country, Sierra Leone has a long story of constant suffering, from a cruel civil war and massive poverty, following the Ebola epidemic of 2014 to a string of natural disasters. Fr Emmanuel and other Priests have been involved in the mission of helping the people in all their spiritual and material needs. Many of them are working in parishes where there is neither electricity nor running water, no vehicles, and no other means of communication. The Archdiocese itself is very poor and already could not help its Priests with all the funding they actually need, while the coronavirus has made things even worse. Fr Emmanuel tells ACN that last year was a crisis-ridden year for them, especially due to the hardship caused by
Fr Percy in the community of Shawy de Copal, Peru
@acn_malta
otherwise be unaffordable. Most of the Priests not only use Mass offerings for their own subsistence, but are also able to cover some of the costs of their pastoral activities with them. These offerings actually make it possible for Priests to carry out their pastoral work and without this aid, these Priests would not be able to carry out their mission. This “Thank You Note” from Fr Ignatius of the Diocese of Kumbo, Cameroun, gives a clear picture: “I write to sincerely thank you for the continuous support you have been giving to my community through the Mass stipends you have been sending to us. This has greatly helped to put food on our table, support our transport to the suburbs to better evangelise and provide structures to communities without place of worship.
Imagine a Priest juggling between his pastoral work and secular jobs in an effort to provide for his needs and the needs of the faithful entrusted to his pastoral care? This has been the unfortunate situation of many Priests serving in some of the world’s poorest communities.
At the heart of ACN’s mission is ensuring continuous support for Missionaries and the faithful in different and difficult parts of the world where the Church is poor, persecuted, suffering or in dire pastoral need. One of the most important and effective ways this has been achieved through the years has been through the gift of Mass offerings from our generous benefactors.
2148 7818
Last year, a total of 52,879 Priests, in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, received support in the form of Mass offerings. These numbers mean that approximately one in every eight Priests in the world benefited from this aid. Every 15 seconds, a Mass is celebrated somewhere in the world for the intentions of ACN benefactors who make this work possible. In many regions today, the faithful are so poor that they cannot support their Priests. Even the Bishops often lack the financial means to provide their Priests with regular support. In fact, for Priests in the poorest countries of the world, Mass offerings are often their sole means of support and vital to their very survival. Basic necessities such as shoes, medication and even food would
acnmalta.org/mass-stipends
different islands (roughly 40). To reach the faithful on the various islands, the Priests have to travel for many hours by boat, and then in many cases make long and difficult journeys on foot through the bush. More Priests are needed, but the diocese is poor, and the Bishop is already struggling to support the Priests he currently has. On top of this, there is the financial responsibility for the formation of new vocations, to say nothing of the Herculean and still unfinished task of repairing and rebuilding the churches and other church buildings destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami of 2017. Mgr Capelli pours out his heart: I am the only Salesian, here, carrying on the hard task for the last 13 years, with two more years to go. Please do not leave us alone, we still need your help. The regular amount of Mass intentions you gave in the past is one third of our yearly need and €5 per Mass stipend is equal to 80% of the daily stipend for each Priest” a big help
Aid to the Church in Need Malta
Fr Emmanuel Francis Allie joined the fishermen to fish in order to get his daily meal during COVID-19
the pandemic. He described how he had to join fishermen to go fishing every day in order to earn his daily living. “Every day, during the crisis, I had to go out after Morning Prayer, working with the fishermen to earn my daily bread,” he said. ACN stepped in to help Fr Emmanuel and his fellow Priests in the Archdiocese of Freetown with Mass offerings for the entire year. The Priests celebrated Holy Masses for the intentions of respective benefactors who gave Mass offerings - a gift freely given by the faithful as a gesture of gratitude and support.
In his letter, Fr Emmanuel says: “I am so grateful for the Mass stipends you have sent to us. May the Lord continue to bless you abundantly.” Thanks to the help of ACN benefactors, now he and his fellow Priests can focus and dedicate their time to pastoral care and charitable activities in their respective communities. Your kind gift of a Mass offering can help Priests like Fr Emmanuel in their trying moments, so that they can focus specifically on their pastoral ministry. Please give a Mass offering today.
You may wish to offer a donation by visiting www.acnmalta.org/donate or through APS Bank IBAN: MT72 APSB 7705 7008 5772 2000 1771 733
acnmalta.org
Priests also use Mass offerings to help the poor in their communities
UNDERSTANDING
MASS OFFERINGS “The Mass is the most perfect form of prayer,” Pope Paul VI
In this way the Christian faithful expressed their desire to participate more intensely and meaningfully in the Eucharistic sacrifice, by adding to it a form of sacrifice of their own by which they contribute in a particular way to the needs of the Church and especially to the sustenance of its Ministers and works of mercy. Formerly, this contribution consisted predominantly of gifts in kind. In our day, it has become almost exclusively monetary. However, the motive and purpose of the faithful’s donation have remained the same. The practice and administration of the offerings for the celebration of Holy Mass are very accurately sanctioned by the new Code of Canon Law. (CIC 945-958). Mass stipends given through ACN help
www.acnmalta.org
THEY HAVE ABANDONED EVERYTHING FOR THE CALL…
Priests saying Mass in one of the underground shelters during the war in Ukraine
The custom of giving an offering for the celebration of Holy Mass has been a constant ecclesiastical practice, which goes back to the early Church, when the faithful brought bread and wine for the celebration of the Holy Mass, and other gifts for the support of Priests and the poor.
Aid to the Church in Need
MASS OFFERINGS
acnmalta.org/mass-stipends
The most beautiful gift you can give is the gift of a Mass offering
poor Priests in need around the world with basic subsistence, including housing, food, clothing, heating, medication, hygiene, and transportation. In some dioceses, Priests use Mass offerings to pay their health and social security insurance as they focus on pastoral care in challenging circumstances. Very often, Priests use their Mass stipends to assist poor and needy people in their parishes and to finance their pastoral activities. Mass offerings are also used to support the formation of prospective Priests in the Congregations and diocesan seminaries, or for further studies of the Priest, particularly for their books. Mass offerings can help Priests, too, with spiritual retreats and pilgrimages. These are necessary to sustain them both spiritually, physically and psychologically in their constant ardous mission. For countless Priests around the world, Mass Offerings are the only source of income they have. Thousands of Priests from all over the world ask for Mass stipends each year from ACN through their Bishops or Superiors. Most of these Priests serve in countries where Christians are discriminated, oppressed, or even persecuted. In many places, the faithful
are so poor that they cannot provide even a basic living for their Priest. For all of these Priests, Mass stipends are most often the only source of income and also represent an important resource for their evangelisation efforts. Therefore, Mass stipends join together the two great works of mercy: prayer and almsgiving. These Priests, many of whom live in dangerous conditions each day – for being living testimony of the Christian faith - deeply appreciate the generosity of donors. They consider it a profound honor to be celebrating Masses for the intentions of donors. Along with those for healing, for the deceased and for special intentions, the Priests we support celebrate Triduum, Novena and Gregorian Masses. Triduum Masses are three Masses celebrated on three consecutive days; Novenas are nine Masses said on nine consecutive days; and Gregorian Masses are celebrated on 30 consecutive days for one deceased person. These Masses of three, nine and 30 days do not have to be celebrated by a single individual Priest; instead a number of Priests may share in them.
Aid to the Church in Need (Malta), 35, Mdina Road, Attard, ATD 9038 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. VO/2227
PLEASE DO NOT ABANDON THEM Missionary Priest Fr Kenneth Iwunna at a village chapel in Kububa, Ethiopia
“Thanks for your support... do not abandon us...please.” These words of appreciation and appeal from an Italian Salesian missionary serving the Diocese of Gizo on the Western Solomon Islands represents the voice of thousands of missionary Priests who have left the comfort and safety of their home countries and embraced a life of sacrifice, dangers – sometimes deadly ones - and dedicated service for the sake of the Gospel. These missionaries have left everything to obey the Lord’s command to tend
the flock and keep watch over the faithful entrusted to their care. In many instances, the faithful are poor communities, struggling under the weight of discrimination, persecution and suffering, with no one else to turn to, but the Christian Missionaries as their only and last source of hope. This is where Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) comes in. ACN supports these missionary Priests with Mass offerings to provide them with basic subsistence, including housing, food, clothing, heating, medication, hygiene and transportation, and also empower them to attend to the needs of the faithful under their pastoral care. Fr. Damiano, a missionary Priest of
If you wish to receive this leaflet by post please send us your contact details via SMS on 7999 9969
the Holy Spirit Fathers works in Malawi where the economic situation has become more acute due to COVID-19. He explains how Mass stipends are of great help at a time like this. He says “Our parishioners have lost most of their livelihoods and earnings, and they are not able to offer us any support. This is why your help in the form of Mass stipends is so timely and immensely appreciated. This help will not only benefit us but it will impact on the thousands of persons that we serve in our parishes and communities.” In the Solomon Islands, Bishop Luciano Capelli faces the tremendous challenge of ministering to around 11,000 Catholics, scattered over a vast area and on many