Dear Friends,

It is with great joy that I address myself toyou for the first time, now that ACN hasbeen established, at the wish of PopeBenedict XVI, on a new legal and canon-ical basis. Our charity is now a PontificalFoundation, which “speaks” and “acts” inthe name of the Church.

Doing good, performing worksof mercy, and fidelity to thePope are characteristics and alegacy that sustain ACN andalso make possible this new in-stitutional refounding. I am convinced thatby remaining steadfast to this vision andplan of action the charity will develop itspastoral work and its mission within theChurch.Essential to this mission of ACN is to sup-port the Holy Father in his task of“strengthening his brothers in the Faith.”It is a task that urges us to console the af-flicted and comfort the grieving, and wemust strive to discern the Face of Christand “dry the tears of God” in the poor andsuffering.

We can see very plainly how the needs arebecoming greater everywhere. In additionto the persecution that has always existed– and remains a reality today – we nowsee the coldness of religious indifference,the rejection of God and a widespreadsecularization. These are times that callfor a “new evangelization,” a time of re-

newed and still greater generosity so thatfaith can be re-kindled and our world begiven a future.As a Pontifical Foundation we are nowcalled upon to strive, with heroic generosity,to support the Church in need and theevangelizing work of her priests. In sodoing we may perhaps be surprised todiscover, again and again, how our ownfaith is enriched and comes to flourishmysteriously, in union with Peter, in arenewed sense of mission and redoubledgenerosity.

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I would like to thank you most warmly foryour generosity and fidelity to this greatwork of charity to our needy brothers andsisters in the Faith and to urge you to beunflagging in this love.It is a precious and propitious moment.The Spirit is calling us to renewal, in con-tinuity. May we be conscious of the firm

but gentle guiding hand of theLord, who is providentiallyleading His Church in a greatdesign of salvation and closerconformity with His will. Somay we be able to respond asfully as possible to the needs

of the Church.I pray, with you and for you, to theBlessed Virgin Mary, Mother of theChurch, in her sorrow at the foot of theCross, for the protection of Heaven and aspirit of boundless generosity. I pray, withyou and for you, that, like Mary, we, too,may be “mothers” to all who turn to us intimes of need.

Cardinal Mauro Piacenza,President of ACN

Good deeds andworks of mercy,in fidelity to the Pope.

The international Catholic charity Aid to the Churchin Need (ACN) has been elevated by Pope Benedict XVIto the status of a Pontifical Foundation.The official

seat of the foundation is Vatican City.Thisrepresents the fulfillment of a wish of Father

Werenfried to see the charity always very close tothe Holy Father. Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, the

Prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, has beenappointed by the Pope as the President of the new

Foundation. Its Executive President will beJohannes Freiherr Heereman, while its new

Ecclesiastical Assistant is Father Martin Barta.

Vicar of Christ – Pope Benedict XVI, close to his people.

©L’OsservatoreRomano

No. 1 – February 2012NewsletterPublished

eight times a year

ED/2/5/13

www.churchinneed.org

Evangelizing – always

and everywhere (Benedict XVI)

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Religious Sis

ters

God sees things differentlyThe “unworldliness” of which PopeBenedict has spoken is at the sametime a personal choice. It takes shapein the response to the quiet call ofGod. Sister Marie Catherine Kingbowas one of those who heard and re-sponded.

Even as a child she had always been moreinclined to pray with a listening heart ratherthan by speaking. At the age of 25, in Dakar,Senegal, she made her temporary vows, andat the age of 32 her final vows. Later she be-came the Superior of the Congregation of theDaughters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.Later still she was elected President of theAssociation of Religious Superiors for theregion of West Africa. Then, in Paris, afterhearing a lecture on Christianity and Islam,she felt Our Lord calling her to somethingnew: “You know My face; make it knownamong the Muslims.” The words were en-graved on her heart; she founded the Con-gregation of the Handmaids of Christ andasked the Bishop ofMaradi, inNiger, to finda home for her in his diocese. It is the onlyhome-grown congregation in Maradi. Verysoon the first postulant was knocking at thedoor of the new congregation. Today thereare eight of them, and SisterMarie is seekingour help for the formation of her novices($4,800). There are some 40,000 Catholicsliving in Niger today, in an environmentdominated by Islam and a proliferation ofsects. But this new congregation is alreadyhighly regarded, because these youngwomen bear shining witness, helping and

teaching with selfless devotion – the essenceof unworldliness. St. Therese of Avila put itlike this, “Howmuch better the world wouldbe if there were no chasing after fame andmoney. Then I am sure the world would beback in good order.”But for nowwe cannot dispense entirely withmoney. In the Convent of Our Lady of theAngels run near Canelones inUruguay, the14 Contemplative Sisters of the Poor Clareshave to endure freezing temperatures. Mostof them are over 80 years old and some areeven over 90, and the winters are cold inthese mountains. The little they earn by thework of their own hands is not enough to payfor the necessary repairs in a convent thatwas never really even finished, let alone topay for the heating. But they cannot and willnot cut back on their prayers. For this is theirmost important contribution to the life of theChurch in this highly secularized country.We have promised them $24,900. •

“Martyrdom is not a matter of heroicachievement, but of the grace to beable to suffer for Jesus,” writesBenedict XVI in his second volumeon Jesus.Martyrdom is also a matter of faithfulness,just as Mary was faithful. From this per-spective there can also be amartyrdom in thelittle things of everyday life. Many ReligiousSisters live this martyrdom, patient and un-seen, year after year. In theDemocratic Re-public of Congo, where the martyrdom of

many priests and religious is an ever-presentreality, the Sisters of the young Congrega-tion of Our Lady of Good Counselmaintainschools and kindergartens, bake hosts, em-broider Mass vestments, care for familiesand in clinics and centers for the handi-capped. “Mary is for us the model of devo-tion, of closeness to God and listening to Hisword,” says their Superior, Sister MarieJeanne Kimenya. “And she is also the pat-tern for our mission of supporting the priestsin their apostolic work.” ACN has promised

the congregation $8,100 for the support oftheir life and ministry. It will help many, dayafter day. •

Faithful in the land of martyrs

Active workers in the land of martyrs –novices of the young congregation.

Ukraine.Youth work can be fun, too!With the Holy Family Sisters, this is noproblem.

“Lining up” for the kinder-garten run by the nuns inKindu, DR Congo.

Any donation you kindly give will go to support these, or similar projects, and enable the pastoral work of Aid to the Church in Need.

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Learning by doing – Sister Clara’s FirstHoly Communion children.

On the road with the Sisters – lunch break on a day out.

Support for ministry

Careful accounting in his last earthlyhome, helped by Sister Angelina.

Little Katja’s first real home – under theloving eye of Sister Teresa.

In the countries of the post-Soviet era the scars of communism run deep inmany souls. In those countries where Christians were always a tiny minor-ity it is particularly difficult for Christians to live their faith in everyday lifeas well.

InKazakhstan there is a strong Muslim el-ement in the population. In the Diocese ofthe Holy Trinity in Almaty there are 16 Re-ligious Sisters and two Religious Brothers.They provide a very thorough teaching tothe children and young people in their care.For the only protection against the preju-dices of the world around them lies insound arguments and prayer. 10-year-oldAnja spent two years with the Sisters,preparing for her First Holy Communion.“When the day finally came, and Jesus waswithin me, I understood that I was follow-ing in the footsteps of Mary. In my FirstConfession it was hard for me to acknowl-edge my sins, for I felt ashamed. But Iknew that it was necessary, so that Jesuscould enter into a pure heart. And when Ireceived Him, my God, I had a thousandthings to ask Him.” Tolik, who is 12, livesalone with his mother. Ever since the sum-

mer camp with the parish he has been at-tending Mass regularly. “I am happy, nowthat I am an altar server. Since I began topray, I have also taught my mother one ortwo prayers. She says I have changed sinceI started going tochurch, and that Iam more obedientnow.” But withoutour financial support the Sisters cannotcontinue their teaching work, nor can thebrothers organize the summer camps. Wehave promised them $12,100.

On the other side of the world, in Boliviaand Peru, the Little Sisters of the Helplessand Elderly care for lonely old people inspecial homes. Pedro Oliver, who is 86, is

so happy and thankful for this that he endshis letter with the words “Long live the oldpeople’s home!” 89-year-old Isaac, a for-mer singer, became a widower at an earlyage, and then lost his son, who died of can-

cer. The Sisters tookhim in, and verysoon he was singingagain. “I love going

to the chapel and praying to my great God,as I always call him, and I pray for the Sis-ters, too, asking my great God to give themstrength to stay faithful to the path theyhave chosen.” He signs his letter “Isaac,taken into the home by the Little Sisters ofthe Helpless and Elderly.” Anibal Ovidio,who is 86, was a craftsman and still helpswherever he can. He also looks after thesacristy and is happy to take on any task.His “only sorrow” is “the ingratitude of mychildren – but then maybe I wasn’t such agood father either.” But he tells the Sistersthey must not be sad when he dies, al-though for him it will be hard enough tohave to leave this place of peace one day,he says. The Sisters’ request is modest in-deed – just $50 per person per year is allthey are asking. Altogether, in these twocountries, there are 243 Sisters working insuch homes, the last earthly home for manyaged and lonely people. Ours could be thearms through which God reaches out tohelp them. It is up to us. •

“May my great God give them strength”

“Long livethe old people’s home!”

Any donation you kindly give will go to support these, or similar projects, and enable the pastoral work of Aid to the Church in Need.

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Thank you twice over......for your help in the hospitals, parishesand schools. Without the work of the Reli-gious Sisters, our pastoral work would notsucceed. And without your support for theSisters, their work would be impossible.And so, both in the name of these Sistersand of the diocese, our heartfelt thanks foryour help!

Auxiliary Bishop J.Milyan, of Kiev

So that Jesus can be better knownAs a priest, I was very touched by your lastMirror. I know you are helping so manypriests around the world and that my diffi-culties are nothing in comparison to whatsome of these men have to go through. Iam happy in my priesthood, but stories likeFr Alliende’s, about the priest who wastempted to abandon his ministry, make merealize how important my mission is of

Need, love and thanks – Your letters

Father Joaquín Alliende, the Presidentof ACN, has now retired. Here is a trib-ute from hisVice President.“Dear Friends” – how many times has FatherJoaquín Alliende addressed us in these words,since the end of the 1990s, when he took overfrom Father Werenfried in writing the letter onPage 1 of the Mirror? Why was he the man towhom Father Werenfried turned, back in the1980s, to help shape the work of ACN and re-vise his Spiritual Guidelines, together with thefuture Cardinal Scheffczyk? And why was itthat he once asked this priest to be his succes-sor – a request that Fr. Alliende declined withthe words, “Chopin had no successor, only in-terpreters.” And so instead, in the late 1990sFather Werenfried asked him to become Inter-national Ecclesiastical Assistant to ACN andthus, so to speak, to be his interpreter….Father Alliende is a Chilean and he embodiesthe culture and temperament of his people. Theeldest of 10 children, he grew up in a familywho lived their Catholic faith with heart andsoul. Shortly before he left school, his fatherdied. Before this, the young Joaquín had metthe founder of the Schönstatt movement, Fa-ther Kentenich, in Chile, and was profoundlyimpressed with this priest and the spiritualityof the movement he had founded. He felt Godwas calling him, and after completing hisschooling he traveled to Fribourg in Switzer-land to train as a priest of the movement. Ayear later his mother died. Following his ordi-nation, and with the approval of his superiors,

point to her as the shortest way to Jesus andseek to lead others to her. Father Alliende hasalways been aman of prayer. As FatherWeren-fried once said, if ever a prayer was needed fora special occasion, “We will ask Father Al-liende for one. He is a man of prayer.” Perhapsthis is why Father Joaquín Alliende becamesuch an important part of ACN and why theHoly See, in the shape of the Congregation ofthe Clergy, appointed him in the late 1990s asInternational Ecclesiastical Assistant and laterentrusted him with the role of InternationalPresident. Now his term of office has come toan end. His rich experience and talents, his pro-found understanding of what the successors ofPeter expect from ACN were an integral partof his work and the reason why during the past12 years he exerted all his heart and all his en-ergies to this end.In gratitude for his work and initiative on behalfof ACN, we entrust him with an Ave Maria tothe loving intercession of Our Blessed Lady,confident that this faithful servant ofMary willnever be without the loving protection of hisMother.

Dr. Pieter van der Velden

making Jesus better known. I also loveyour clear sense of communion with theChurch and with our beloved Pope Bene-dict XVI, who suffers so much for theChurch. We will welcome him with greatlove here in Rio in 2013. I would like tocontribute what little I can to this greatwork of God’s love that is ACN. I will alsopublicize your work in my parish.

Apriest in Brazil

he moved back to Chile to look after his or-phaned brothers and sisters, caring for their up-bringing like a father. After this he devotedhimself with all his love and energy to a widelyvaried apostolate. His creativity and gift withwords – he developed into an acknowledgedspiritual poet within the Hispanic world – werea part of this. He also proved to be a profoundtheologian, with a clear insight into the dangersand errors of some of the current trends in lib-eration theology, yet at the same time a livelyawareness of the longing of the Catholic faith-ful for a God close to them in their need. Thushe did not go unnoticed, and before long theleaders of the Schönstatt Movement found aplace for him within the international leader-ship. He returned to Europe and was also in-volved in the preparations for the first-everWorld Youth Day. It was during this time, inthe 1980s, that his intensive contacts with ACNbegan. For Father Werenfried was convinced,as he once told me, that ACN was in need ofthe new source of graces brought by the spiri-tual movements.

Back in Chile, Father Alliende found himselfhaving to defend the interests of the Churchagainst a dictatorial regime. At the same timehe developed an important media apostolate –just one of many evangelizing initiatives thathe started. The many books that he wrote like-wise served this goal. He saw Mary as hismother, bound to him by a bond of love, andconsequently it was quite natural for him to

Farewell and thank you to Fr. Joaquín Alliende

Publisher: Kirche in Not/Ostpriesterhilfe,Aid to the Church in Need, International Headquarters,Postfach 1209, 61452 Königstein, Germany; www.acn-intl.org;Editor-in-chief: Jürgen LiminskiDe licentia competentis auctoritatis ecclesiasticaePrinted in the USA – ISSN 0252-2535

Leave a legacy of your love when writing or changing your will.

©L’OsservatoreRomano

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Cuba

It has withstoodhurricanes,dictatorship,

confiscation –the nationalshrine of the

Cuban people inEl Cobre.

Have great faith in Our Lady, says Arch-bishop Garcia Ibanez.

Our Lady of El Cobre in Cuban history“She is the spiritual heart of allCubans,” says Archbishop DionisioGarcia Ibanez of Santiago de Cuba, ofthe image of the Virgin of Charity ofEl Cobre.“Even for non-believers sheis a symbol of Cuban nationality andculture.”

Indeed it is true that the diminutive image ofOur Lady has a particularly close relation-ship, even a common history, with the islandand its people. To her intercession they at-tribute the victory over the Spaniards in theSpanish-American War of 1898, and with itCuba’s independence from Spain. In 1916Pope Benedict XV declared the Virgin ofCharity as Patroness of Cuba. She continuedto be revered by the people throughout theyears of communist dictatorship and herstatue was crowned by Blessed John Paul IIwhen he visited the island in 1998. Today de-votion to her is increasing, and every year atleast half a million people travel here to thenation’s national shrine in El Cobre. For thelast 18 months, in fact, her tiny image – just1 foot high – has been traveling the wholecountry, visiting every diocese on the island,to mark the 400th anniversary of her discov-ery. She was found, intriguingly, floating inthe Bay of Nipe, by the twin native Indian

brothers, Juan and Rodrigo de Hoyos, andthe young negro boy JuanMoreno. They hadgone to collect salt, when a storm blew upand they were forced to wait. After threedays, when the storm had abated, they sawthe little statue bobbing on the waves andfloating towards them on a wooden board. Itwas completely dryand on its base werethe words “I am theVirgin of Charity.”She was brought with great rejoicing to thesmall copper mining town of El Cobre,where an altar and chapels were built. Eversince then the pilgrimages to her shrine havecontinued unabated. Later a church wasbuilt, then a retreat house, a pilgrim center,and a small convent for the contemplativeCongregation of the Missionary Sisters ofCharity. There is also a conference centerthat to this day is still the only Christian ed-ucation center within the ecclesiasticalprovince. But for over half a century no ren-

Waiting for the Virgen deCaridad. All Cubans feelequal in her eyes.

Our Lady of Char-ity of El Cobre,

carried in proces-sion through the

dioceses.

ovation work was done, and some of thebuildings were even confiscated by the Com-munist regime. But the Virgin remained andthe Cuban people remained faithful to her.Nevertheless, not until today has it been pos-sible to think about renovating the shrine.Now the bishops are hoping to be able to

raise at least 10% ofthe cost of renova-tion from the peoplethemselves, with the

slogan “One Peso from every Cuban – forthe Virgin of El Cobre.” At the same timethey are hoping for additional donationsfrom the many Cuban exiles – and they havealso asked ACN for help ($134,600). Therenovation will inspire still greater devotionto the Virgin of Charity both in the shrine andaround the country – reflected in the three-year pilgrimage of the image through everyCuban diocese. This is currently happeningwith the three-year pilgrimage of the imagethrough every Cuban diocese. This is a realand tangible form of new evangelization.Many of Cuba’s 11 million citizens havebeen estranged from the Church and fromGod during half a century of communism.And while hundreds of Cubans continue tocome to El Cobre daily, Our Lady is nolonger waiting for them but going out to visitthem – just as she did 400 years ago – and toremind them of her love. It is history in themaking, but history that needs our help. Letus respond generously to her appeal! •

“One Peso from every Cuban –for the Virgin of El Cobre”

Any donation you kindly give will go to support these, or similar projects, and enable the pastoral work of Aid to the Church in Need.

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Through the eyes of childrenFamily apostolate

An artistic apostolate –Conchita Gomez bringsGod’sWord to life.

Ready at last – in China, too, the Child’sBible is welcomed enthusiastically.

The Child’s Bible – almost50 million copies in 171 languages.

Go out into all the world – the samemessage, through modern means.

A living narrative – so the message isbrought to children everywhere.

“I draw my inspiration from the sa-cred Scriptures and from people,”says Conchita Gomez, an artist, so-cial worker and nun. Now aged 75,she comes from Pamplona in thenorth of Spain, but has lived andworked for years in Peru.

Her artwork illustrates numerous differentpublications, including the ACN Child’sBible God Speaks to His Children. Thislittle book has now been published in nofewer than 171 different languages and al-most 50 million have been printed.

Sister Conchita is perhaps better known tothe wider world under her Basque pseu-donym Miren Sorne. Since the age of 20she has been a member of the Hermanasdel Servicio Social de la Inmaculada, a re-ligious community that cares for the poorand the sick in the slums of Lima and alsohigh up in the Andes. Since many chil-dren and young people and adults therecould neither read nor write, Sister Con-chita soon discovered paint brush andpalette as a way of bringing the HolyScriptures closer to them. As a child shehad learned to draw and paint.

Right from the start her bold and colorfulillustrations met with an enthusiastic re-ception, perhaps partly because she hasremained faithful to a simple pedagogical

maxim – always treat children and youngpeople with the same respect as adults. Inthe course of her work with young peoplein particular, Conchita Gomez has devel-oped her own quite distinctive style. Herillustrations are appealing, and their por-trayal is strikingly realistic. She managesto bring the Bible stories to life. The se-cret is to view the Gospel through the eyesof children and to express this on paperthrough their imagination. She stresses,she wants people to look at the picturesnot as outside observers, but to be able toplace themselves in the scenes.

And another distinctive feature of thework of this Spanish nun is this – sheknows that her pictures will be seen bypeople throughout the world, usually

young people, of every different national-ity and race and very frequently from sim-ple and even very poor backgrounds. Andso her figures aim to reflect the featuresof these youngsters, the coloring of theirclothing and of their everyday life. And so

the Bible scenes she depicts do not seemstrange and distant but real, authentic andcontemporary. Sister Conchita has fol-lowed the progress of the ACN Child’sBible God Speaks to His Children for 20years now, maintaining contact through

the publishing house of the Steylermissionaries (Divine Word Missionar-ies) in Pamplona, where the Child’sBibles are printed. She has also illus-trated ACN’s Rosary booklet for chil-dren. Her illustrations are also to befound in many other religious publica-tions. Sister Conchita does not like to

talk about her success. Instead when she’sreminded of the huge number of childrenwho have received a copy of God Speaksto His Children, she says, “I feel quite un-comfortable. My only wish is to helpthrough these images to convey the mes-sage, the Word.” •

Reinhard Backes

Any donation you kindly give will go to support these, or similar projects, and enable the pastoral work of Aid to the Church in Need.