Church in Need Fact Sheet

ACN Fact Sheet

Religious persecution is a foreign concept for most people living in the United States, but it is a horrifying reality for some 200 million Christians who face violence and even murder for practicing their faith. The United Nations reports that another 350 million Christians experience less extreme forms of oppression, including discrimination, harassment and restrictions on their worship.

Aid to the Church in Need is an international Catholic charity dedicated to alleviating the suffering of those who are persecuted for practicing their faith. With the blessing and guidance of the Holy Father, Aid to the Church in Need supports the pastoral and temporal needs of priests, religious and laity in 145 countries.

Aid to the Church in Need is supported by generous individuals in 18 countries, who entrust it with $120 million each year to realize the spiritual and material needs identified and met by leaders of the suffering Church.

Each of the 5000 projects funded each year by Aid to the Church in Need is an expression of the organization’s commitment to “Keep the Faith Alive” in places where it is put to the test.

Aid to the Church in Need provides hope by meeting needs generally overlooked by other charitable organizations. Specifically, Aid to the Church in Need:
· Rebuilds churches and chapels destroyed by violence or desecrated by hatred, restoring a safe place for the faithful to gather in prayer
· Supports the religious formation of future priests and nuns by providing food, clothing and religious education materials. In fact, one of every seven seminarians in the world is supported by Aid to the Church in Need.
· Offers pastoral and temporal care to contemplative sisters and elderly religious
· Provides bicycles, cars, motorcycles, trucks and mules to help priests and nuns reach remote parishes
· Places Bibles and other devotional materials in the hands of those who want to grow in their faith. Aid to the Church in Need has translated its Child’s Bible into 156 languages and distributed it to 45 million youngsters.
· Gives material aid and pastoral care to refugees and others persecuted for their faith.
· Promotes the Gospel through Christian media by developing and supporting television and radio programming

Aid to the Church in Need began in 1947 as the vision of Father Werenfried van Straaten, a devout Dutch priest trying to heal the wounds of war-torn Germany by lavishing hope and love on its people. His legacy is a vibrant organization that translates the commitment of generous donors into actual hope for their brothers and sisters who suffer to practice their Christian faith.

A Church In Need

I was recently contacted by Aid to the Church in Need, an international Catholic charity, asking if I would post some information about their organization. After reading about this wonderful charity, I felt compelled to share with you some important information I learned about the work they do to help the suffering and persecuted Church worldwide.

The following is from their Mission Statement:

Our Mission

"You assure a fundamental service to the human person when he or she is deprived of an inalienable right to religious liberty."
— John Paul II

As an international Catholic charity under the guidance of the Holy Father, Aid to the Church in Need’s mission is to help suffering and persecuted faithful worldwide.

As the voice of the suffering Church, with the help of our ACN family of faithful — hundreds of thousands of concerned and committed Catholics worldwide — we reach out to assist people in need in over 145 countries. Each year, we fulfill more than 5,000 projects through our spiritual and material aid programs. Our shared goal: To help strengthen the Church and keep the Faith alive.

Where there is darkness and despair, we provide light, hope, and a constant sign that the Church is a dynamic, single, universal body in Christ.

The work they do is tremendous and they need our help to continue this work. One way you can help is by Offering a Mass:
Through your Mass Offering, you bring God's compassion and love to your loved ones, but also hope to those who celebrate the Mass in Communion with the Saints. Rest assured that your Mass Stipend will be sent — in full — to a priest who will celebrate a Mass for your intentions.
Another way you can help is by supporting one of their Programs:

Thanks to the commitment of generous faithful, we reach out to our suffering brothers and sisters through eight core programs. Our donors have made a positive difference in the lives of literally millions of people worldwide. Please consider making a gift to support a program, or offer general support. The need is great. You may also wish to view specific Projects in Need that are in urgent need of funding.
You can also support the organization just by following them on the web and by spreading the word about their mission and the work they do:
· Follow Aid to the Church in Need on Twitter.
· Become a Fan of the charity on Facebook.
· Read their blog at churchinneed.wordpress.com.
· View photos of projects and people on Flickr.

This is a unique Catholic charity and I am happy that I have the opportunity to share this information with you. I hope you will take a few moments to click on the links I placed in this post.

Individual Catholic Prayers

If anyone would like to share their orignal Catholic prayers, quotes, inspiration sayings, devotions, intercessions, writings or poems to a specific Saint, please share them. I can add them to the Apostle.com site with or without the name of the author.

The 5 Mysteries

What are the 5 Mysteries?

1. The Baptism of Jesus by John in Jordan. The sky opened up and God himself spoke with the large group of followers waiting to be baptised by John. John stated: Behold, the Lamb of God

2. The Wedding in Cana, when Jesus turned water into wine

3. The proclamation of the Kingdom. According to scripture Jesus rarely spoke a word. A large gathering came to hear him speak. This is when Jesus stated that Peter was given the keys to heaven

4. The Transfiguration. John, James and Peter were taken up to the mountains with Jesus to pray. It was there when the transfiguration took place, and Jesus experienced the Passion while covered in light. It was then that God spoke to John, James and Peter and a cloud opened up in the sky. God told John, James and Peter to listen to Jesus as he is my son.

5. The Eucharist. The last supper. When Jesus gives his body and blood to all who believes in him.

The 5 mysteries represent the 5 decades of a Rosary. A Rosary is called a Prayer counter because it helps one focus on the mysteries one bead at a time.

All to my All

This is a blog of the Phillipines I believe, and it is very well written. There are some original Haiku's, poems and readings that are very uplifting. Along with original readings there are a large group of readings from Anne Frank, Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine. I really liked this blog.

http://alltomyall.blogspot.com/

All Else Confusion: Catie's Wish

All Else Confusion: Catie's Wish

This is a link to the "All Else Confusion" Blog, and has a story about the little girl Catie O'brien who died on January 25th of 2009. Catie and her family had a wish to cover the expenses of all St. Jude operations for one day each year in her name. Her story, and donation information can be found from this link.

Alive and Young

This is a great Catholic blog spot because of the unique, useful information mixed with an excellent sense of humor. I really enjoyed the very fresh and pleasant writings.

http://aliveandyoung.blogspot.com/

Saint of the Day

I found an exceptional resource! The website: www.americancatholic.org is just fantastic. There is a Saint Calender, Saint of the day and there is even a Patron Saint index where you can match your own name to the index! Very nice and highly recommended daily reading.

Today's Saint of the day: St. John Vianney

Patrick
www.apostle.com

Miracle of the Eucharist Video

The Alexandrian

I really thought this blog was cool primarily because of the design. It is a Canadian Catholic blog focused on the modern culture of Catholocism. Definitely one of the best designs I have seen yet.

www.thealexandrian.org/blog

Albanarius

Albanarius is written by a gentleman in Florida, and is a Catholic blog focused on modern political news. What I like about it is it's short and sweet yet still inciteful. Im not that particularly fond of long winded statements unless the writer is exceptional at capturing your attention. If you like a quick and powerful Catholic-political blurb this is the site for you.

http://albanarius.blogspot.com/

After Abortion (Pro-Life Resources)

The After Abortion site is an excellent place for Pro-Life resources such as: Abortion prevention, abortion recovery counceling, contacts for adoption, options for un-wed mothers and a wealth of information pertaining to the Pro-Life movement. There are also several touching letters and writings from both mothers, and those who had aborted their unborn baby.

http://afterabortion.blogspot.com/

Aeternus

Aeternus is a very simple yet well thought out blog focused entirely on Catholic Prayers, spiritual excercises, as well as Catholic writings from a variety of different sources. One could easily spend several hours of reflection here.

http://aeternus.stblogs.com/

Adrienne's Armoire

This is a blog for women, but while doing my daily Catholic Links and Blog reading I came across Adrienne's Armoire and was very impressed. She has a mastery of making handmade dresses, and she mixes her clothing niche with Catholicism and the word of Our Lord. Definitely worth taking a look at this easy-on-the-eyes and very well designed site.

http://adriennesarmoire1.wordpress.com/

Pictures of the Vatican

Here is a blog from the Adorno Fathers of New Jersey. The Clerics went to Rome and took some really beautiful pictures during their travels

http://www.adornofathers.blogspot.com/