Aid to the Church
in Need: a family portrait
Aid to the Church in Need (Canada) Inc. is a not-for-profit organization
incorporated in 1982 under federal laws. Its head office is located
in Montreal.
ACN Canada is a Catholic charitable organization. It is the Canadian
branch of an international organization also named Aid to the Church
in Need*, founded in 1947 in Belgium, by Father Werenfried van Straaten,
a priest of the Norbertine Order. The International Secretariat, or
head office, is located in Königstein, Germany. Let us tell you more
about the mother organization before introducing our national office
to you.
Today, Aid to the Church in Need is active in 153 countries. It receives
donations exclusively from the faithful and receives no government
subsidies whatsoever. It isnow elevated to the status of a pontifical Foundation, with official seat in Vatican City.
ACN’s distinctive mark is that it helps communities of Catholics rather
than individuals, wherever they can be found in difficulty for reasons
of persecution or dire material needs. Reflecting its ecumenical spirit,
ACN’s solicitude reaches out to the Orthodox Church. Since the foundation
of the charity, more than $3 billion has been distributed to the more
needy local Churches.
Aid to the Church in Need is the pastoral charity par excellence.
It is the necessary link between Christ’s suffering Church and people
of good will ready to provide spiritual or material help. Our role
is really simple: to act as a competent, trustworthy intermediary
to point out the needs and manage efficiently the aid that such needs
generate.
*To keep it short while
avoiding any possible confusion, we will be using the initials ACN,
along with the name of the country or the adjective "International",
as applicable.
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A warm welcome to all
I find myself privileged to have the
opportunity to introduce our charity to you through the Web. We have chosen this modern means of
communication to reach out to people like you that we might have missed otherwise.
A simple click will acquaint you with our
organization and introduce our team members to you. Browsing our
site, you will gather important information about our mission and objectives,
our activities and projects and the needs of the distressed churches.
We sincerely hope to convince you of the need for our charity and of our
competence in managing your donations. We do hope that you will want to recommend our site
to your friends and relatives as well.
Have a nice visit, come back often and do contact
us.
Marie-Claude Lalonde, National Director
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