At Christmas time a deep and mysteriousyearning awakens in the human heart for abetter, happier world. Is this merely anemotional delusion, no more than a distantmemory of carefree childhood days thatquickly fades away in the harsh light ofeveryday? Or is the Christmas feast trulyan echo of the Divine Word,who became Man in Bethle-hem? How hard we find it, inour selfish pride, to accept thesimple truth that God became atiny, helpless Child! And yet itis in this very God who becamea Child that the salvation of the world lies.

Edith Stein – Saint Teresa Benedicta of theCross – once wrote in these words to a phi-losopher who asked her advice: “You can-not be helped with arguments. If one couldliberate you from all argumentation, thatmight indeed help you. And as for advice,I have already given you my advice: to be-come like a little child and to lay your life,with all its pondering and probing, in theFather’s hands. If you cannot manage to dothis, then ask the unknown God, in whom

you doubt, to help you to do so. Now youare staring at me in great astonishment, fordaring to respond to you with such simplechildish wisdom. It is wisdom, because itis simple, and all mysteries are containedwithin it. And it is a way that leads quitesurely to its goal.” When we kneel in hu-mility before the Child Jesus in the man-ger, this great grace is given to us – to be a

child before God. To accept everythingfrom God as a gift, even before we canachieve anything – this is the summit of theChristian life.

Only as a child, living unconditionallyfrom the Father’s hand, can we taste thetrue joy of Christmas. Edith Stein onceagain, in a meditation: “To be a child ofGod means to be led by God’s hand, to doGod’s will and not our own, to lay all ourcares and hopes in God’s hands and to beconcerned no longer for ourselves or our

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future. In this lie the freedom and joyful-ness of the child of God. How few thereare, even among the truly pious, who them-selves possess these qualities! It is a longway from the self-satisfaction of the ‘goodCatholic’ who ‘does his duty’ – but for therest does what he wants – to a life livedfrom God’s hand, with the simplicity of achild.”

Thank you, dear friends, foryour living faith, with whichyou have supported ACNthroughout the years in somany different projects. Yourfaith gives us the courage to

turn to you once again for help with themany needs of the Church. Then, togetherwith Our Lady, we can bring to others thelove of the Divine Child and the true joy ofChristmas.

To you and all your families, a BlessedChristmas and a joyful New Year.

Father Martin M. BartaEcclesiastical Assistant

In the very God whobecame a Child lies thesalvation of the world.

“In the Child Jesus, God madeHimself dependent, in need ofhuman love. He put Himself in theposition of asking for human love– our love. Let us ask the Lord to

help us see through thesuperficial glitter of this seasonand discover behind it the Childin the stable in Bethlehem, so asto find true joy and true light.”

Pope Benedict XVI. Christmas Mass, St. Peter’s, Rome,December 24, 2011

To live from God’s hand, with the simplicity of a child ...Christmas in front of the manger, in Kazakhstan.

Stand firm in the faith,

be strong. (1 Cor. 16:13)No. 8 – November/December 2012

NewsletterPublished eight times a year

ED/2/5/13www.churchinneed.org

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Conversion, and walls for the house of faith

growing. We have promised $26,000 to-wards the cost of a new extension.

In Daugavpils, in Latvia, as throughout thesphere of Soviet power, the Communistsbuilt whole suburbs, with schools, factories,residential apartment blocks – but withoutchurches. In the Kimiku quarter of the city,home to 24,000 people – there is a gradualreawakening of Christian life. Daugavpilsis the largest town in the diocese. BishopJanis Bulis and the 2,000 or so Catholicswho now live in Kimiku began work on achurch two years ago, only stopping workin 2011 when the money ran out. And yet,if completed, the walls of this church wouldgive concrete testimony to the return of theGospel to this once Catholic region, afterover half a century of anti-Christian dicta-

No ‘Sarepta’without the Cross – underthis sign they can pray, learn and relax.

Building the house of faith – the unfin-ished walls of the church in Daugavpils.

In his Confessions, St. Augustine de-scribes the conversion of Victorinus,a prominent scholar and adviser togovernment circles and to the rich.Hebelieved, yet lacked ‘only’ baptismand the public profession of his faith.

“Know, that I have finally become a Chris-tian,” said Victorinus to Simplician, thespiritual father of St. Ambrose, in a secretmeeting. But Simplician replied, “I do notbelieve you, and I will not number youamong the Christians until I see you goingto the Church of Jesus Christ.” “Why?,”asked Victorinus with a smile. “Do wallsmake one a Christian, then?” Indeed theydo. For they create community, bear wit-ness, provide shelter and a space for cate-chesis. Again and again bishops come tous, including those from the ancient Chris-tian lands of Eastern Europe, asking ourhelp so that they can build such walls –whether for a church, a parish house or ayouth center. Within the walls of one suchcenter, the Diocese of Sambir-Drohobychin Ukraine is planning to organize retreatsfor young people and training courses forthe leaders of summer youth camps. Theyalso need a larger hall for teaching and cat-echesis. The demand for these retreats andcourses is considerable, in fact. For 18years now the diocese has been running thesummer camps, which already involve over2,000 young people. ‘Sarepta’ is the namethey give these camps, and their aim is tocombine fun and relaxation with spiritualinstruction. They have a strong appealamong the young – and their appeal is

torship. The final price tag for the buildingwill be over $600,000, and the bishop isseeking funding worldwide. We havepromised him $64,900, confident in yourgenerous response.

In the secularist state of Uruguay, as inWestern Europe, very few children come tochurch after making their First Holy Com-munion. The Sisters of the Family of Maryin the Diocese of Florida intend to changethat. They offer the young people thechance of camping weekends in their mis-sion station, with prayer, music and games– but without TV, Internet or mobilephones. They call these weekends ‘24hours in Bethlehem.’ And the young peo-ple love to come. In summer the weather isfine for camping, but in winter it is too cold.And so they are building a youth hostel forgirls and another for boys, quite close to thepresbytery. They are asking our help, for$13,000, to build for the future – ensuringthe Good News from Bethlehem does notcome to an end.

And what about Victorinus? He finally over-came his fear of publicly professing Christi-anity. “Filled with shame at his vanity andblushing at his unfaithfulness to the truth,”he embraced Christianity and baptism, St.Augustine writes. And so he bore witness toall, both within and without the walls. •

The NewEvange

lization

Under Our Lady’s protection – prayingfor the future of Uruguay.

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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Your Christmas gift for the Church in need

A set of car tires as a Christmas present? Or a new bat-tery?For Bishop Emilio Aranguren Echeverría of Holguín, the largestdiocese in Cuba, the work of the pastoral apostolate sometimesdepends on a set of tires to keep it on the road. Or perhaps a newbattery, so that the motor can start in the first place. Cars and spareparts are a major problem in Cuba – as official permission is re-quired to purchase a new car. So Cuba remains an island of clas-sic cars, and every car owner has to go in search of spare parts tokeep his vehicle going for as long as mechanically possible. Andfor the same reason it makes sense for the diocese – with its 35parishes, 114 mission houses and 140 mission stations – to have itsown garage in order to maintain its 48 vehicles in service. So let ushelp these communities to celebrate Christmas – whether with newtires and batteries, or with myrrh and frankincense. If just 300 ofyou could give $60 each, then Bishop Emilio will be able to bringthem the Good News once again. •

$60 – to keep the Church’s mission on the road

$10 – to warm the hearts of the faithful – even at minus 13°F

The Parish of St.Therese in Niamey, Niger, is “dynamic, fullof initiative and joyful in living its Faith in the midst of aMuslim environment,”writes ArchbishopMichel Cartatéguy.This church will be “a visible sign of the Christian presence,” a light-house of faith. It will be the first Catholic church in this part of town.It will strengthen the Christians in their identity as they work, quietlyand discreetly, above all among the poor. The walls are already stand-ing; what is missing is the roof. It will eventually have space for 500people. Will you help us to provide a roof for this House of God?$130 will pay for over 10 square feet of roof. You will be giving tan-gible form to the message of peace, and giving honor to the Princeof Peace. •

$130 – to make Christ visible in His Church

This small town in Romania is called Holod – from aSlavonic word meaning ‘cold.’In winter the temperature can fall to minus 13°F. The community ofEastern-rite Catholics here need some sort of heating for their littlechapel. The situation is the same in the Parish of Teceu Miu, where theelderly in particular are hoping the Church won't be so bitterly coldthis winter. The church is the only one in the region, and it is also at-tended by Latin-rite Catholics and Romanian Orthodox believers. Theneed is the same in Pargaresti, and in Varadia. In the hills and moun-tains of Romania, communities need adequate heating in their churchesor new, weatherproof windows (saving 25% of the heating costs). Theyhave been saving up, to the best of their abilities – $3,499 in Oradea,and $4,617 in Holod. If just a few hundred of us could give $10 each,we could be warming the hearts of our brothers and sisters in the win-ter cold this Christmas. •

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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So many cries for helpPlease accept my small donation of $50 toyour good work. I will give when I can,though I am on very limited funds. It is dif-ficult to choose which cry for help to an-swer as they are so many. I hope mydonation will help someone in need.

A benefactress from Australia

What a marvel!Thank you for such a truly impressive an-nual report by ACN. What a marvel thiswork is! My heartfelt thanks especially foryour aid for the “little convent” in Vienna.It was truly a gift from heaven. My sincer-est regards, in the Lord,

Cardinal Schönborn, Austria

In prayer and sympathy

“There can be no Church withoutpriests, nor can there be priests with-out the Church.” Undoubtedly, theChurch in Cuba has a quite specialneed for more priests and for goodpriests, who can “convey hope, de-spite all the vicissitudes of life.” Thehelp you are giving represents amajorcontribution towards this, as the 56young men and future priests in theseminary of San Carlos y San Ambro-sio in Havana, Cuba, will readily tes-tify.They have written to express theirheartfelt thanks to you for havingmade them “the object of your kind-ness.” And they also thank you“on behalf of our Catholic faithful, for it is they,too,who ultimately benefit from our training and from your help.”As they pointout, we are all of us – priests, laity and benefactors –“indispensable for the lifeof the other, so that each of us in his own way helps to build up the Church ofChrist.That is so beautiful and wonderful.”

I was appointed to this post a yearago. During this year I have cometo see the hatred against Christiansas a particularly shocking form ofviolence against innocent victims.There is seemingly no end in sightto the violence. With the birth ofHis Son in deepest poverty, God de-sired to make a new beginning inHis loving plan of Salvation. Yet,right from the start, His messagewas contested. In our time as wellthe Church of Christ is unthink-able without the testimony of themartyrs. Their blood is the seed ofthe Church, from which we, too,live.May this Christmas feast draw ourgaze still more firmly towards thosepeople whose fidelity to the Gospeldemands everything of them, often– like Saint Stephen – even theirlives. We owe the suffering Churchour prayers and our support. Onceagain this year, many of our bene-factors have given proof of theirsolidarity with their persecutedChristian brothers and sisters,through their generous legacies orregular donations. The fidelity ofthe persecuted and the generosityof the benefactors, united in mu-tual prayer and solidarity, is thebest response we can make to theChristmas message of God’s lovefor all mankind.

JohannesFreiherrHeereman,Executive Presidentof ACN International

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.

Need, love and thanks – Your letters

Aid to the Church in Need would like to thank our donors who have called andinquired about our well-being after the effects of Hurricane Sandy ravished thenortheast with highwinds and flooding. Our offices are located in Brooklyn,NYand, except for some technology interruptions, we escaped the storm un-harmed.We extend our deepest sympathies to all those less fortunate, those who dieddue to the hurricane and those still suffering because of the loss of a lovedone, the loss of a home or precious belongings. Our hearts and prayers go outto you during this very difficult and emotional time.

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The Good Shepherd Sisters have a fourth vow:“to work for the conversionof sinners and to save souls.”This is the work they do, all over the world,including in Lebanon.

“Consider, dear Sisters, how ennobling forus is the sacrifice that we make in ourfourth vow, for the salvation of souls. Thisoffering makes us worthy to collaborate inthe work of divine Mercy.” For Sister Pas-cale, these words of the foundress of hercongregation have long since become sec-ond nature. It goes without saying that sheis working for the salvation of souls. Shegoes into the prisons of Beirut and helpstraumatized women. “She has traveled herpath alone,” she says of Fatmé, a youngMuslim woman, forced into marriage atthe age of 14 to a man who already hadchildren older than she was. The man beather often and beat her hard. She was noteven allowed to look out of the window,let alone leave the house. At the age of 19she already had two young boys. Whenher husband was murdered, Fatmé wasblamed and charged with his murder. Noone stood up for her, she had no chance ofa fair trial and was condemned. Sister Pas-cale got to know her in the prison, visitingher twice a week, helping to heal her soulby simply being there, talking with her.For years. After 12 years Fatmé was fi-nally released from prison. Her childrenwere in an orphanage by then, quite es-tranged from her. Pascale continued tovisit her, teaching her knitting and ceram-ics craftwork, so that she could earn a lit-

tle money from home. Fatmé knows theKoran; Pascale gave her the Gospels. TheGood News heals.

Viviane, a young Christian woman, was alsomarried young, at the age of 15. Her husbandconstantly cheated on her, took drugs, beather up. Often she ended up in the hospital.She became pregnant and had a child. Finally,the drugs took their toll on her husband. Hebecame depressive, decided to kill himself –and her as well. He made a meal for the twoof them, laced with poison. But she only atea little, and survived. She was accused ofmurder; the police beat her to force her intomaking a “confession.” While on remand, shetold her side of the story, but no one believed

Lebanon

Keyrings, made in prison by Fatmé andViviane.

Sister Pascale, giving traumatizedwomen new hope.

So grateful for your help – Srs. Georgette,Marie-Claude, Pascale and Monique.

Born in 1796, at the age of 21 she took herpermanent vows in the congregation of OurLady of Charity of the Refuge. At 29, she be-came Superior and established a new housein Angers, France, in 1829. In 1831, she es-tablished the Congregation of Our Lady ofCharity of the Good Shepherd (the GoodShepherd Sisters). It was recognized by thePope in 1835, with Angers as the motherhouse and seed ground of new houses. Bythe time of her death in 1868, she had estab-lished 110 convents on all five continents. •

Saint Maria Euphrasia Pelletier

her. Her child is with her husband’s relatives,in a “living hell,” as Sister Pascale puts it. Herfather-in-law is an addict, her sister-in-lawmentally disturbed, and she describes hermother-in-law as evil and false. Sister Pascalevisits the family and the young boy, now nineyears old, says, “I want to go to mummy.” Vi-viane has now been on remand for sevenyears, without trial. She doesn’t have themoney for a lawyer. Her mother cleans apart-ment blocks, to make ends meet. Pascale hasfound a lawyer willing to take on the case. Apriest, who believes Viviane’s account, hasmade a written account of the whole affairand passed it to the lawyer. Now the wholecase is being re-examined. “She has enduredeverything, because she believes,” says SisterPascale. She continues to helpViviane, who isalso a soul in need of healing. “Every soul isprecious,” she says. “The Good Shepherdwishes all to be saved.”

Sister Pascale is grateful to you, the bene-factors, for without your help she could notdo this work. And Fatmé and Viviane arejust two examples among many. •

The Good Shepherd, seeking and saving souls

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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In May 2007, in the presence of PopeBenedict XVI, the Fifth General As-sembly of the Bishops’ conferencesof Latin America and the Caribbeanresolved to launch a grand continen-tal mission whose aim was to give“Latin America and the Caribbean anew impetus and new strength.”

For Bishop Dominique Marie Jean Denis ofthe Diocese of Santíssima Conceição doAraguaia, this is like the sending of the dis-ciples by Christ. Following the centenarycelebrations of his diocese, he has launcheda three-year mission in the countryside, inthe towns, and in hearts and minds. The thirdof these is the hardest, being aimed as it is atdialoguing with specific professions. Theaim is to convey a clear understanding of theCatholic faith, its meaning and forms of ex-pression, through two or three-day con-gresses. Thus, for example, there will be acongress for teachers and educators, and an-other for prison staff and their 80-plus vol-unteer workers in the prison ministry;another for artists and musicians to mark the

Year of Faith, with up to 200 musicians from10 different parishes. Bishop Dominique isfinding a variety of different ways of bring-ing the Word to his people.

Last year he wrote a theater play for every-one, entitled ‘Gideon’s Christmas.’ It is setback in the time of the Judges of Israel, whenthe people had become unfaithful to God andfallen into the hands of the Midianites. Themessage for today is clear: those who do notrespect the Commandments of God will fallprey to heathen ways and will worship idolssuch as Mammon. Gideon was called by

God to shake his people out of their torporand defeat the Midianites. He succeeded,with just a handful of faithful warriors – anda piece of cunning deception. The messageagain is that God needs men for the mission– not many but faithful ones. And just asGideon and his men encircled the camp ofthe Midianites with trumpets and firebrands,so the missionaries of today should not hidetheir light under a bushel, but should pro-claim the Good News with commitment and

joy. But Bishop Dominique also has a sur-prise in store for Gideon and for the mis-sionaries – for after having withstood thetest, they encounter Joseph and Mary on theway to Bethlehem, fall into conversation andlearn from Joseph about the approachingbirth of Jesus. Gideon draws the appropriateconclusion: God will never abandon us; Heis always at our side – and above all since Hebecame Man.

The continental mission is a contemporaryway of proclaiming the Gospel. The Messageof Love does not change, but the form may

The many different forms of mission

indeed do so, for it must be adapted to thecircumstances. In the Diocese of Rio Branco,deep in the Amazon rainforest, 33 priests(just 11 of them diocesan priests) minister tosome half a million people. Out of a total of32 parishes, 10 have to make do without anypriest at all. Consequently, even BishopJoaquín Pertíñez Fernández himself is fre-quently on the road. The huge distancesmean heavy transport costs; then there are theexhausting climatic conditions in this ‘greenhell’: the malaria, the dengue fever, the fre-quent flooding. This year the Rio Brancooverflowed again, inundating numeroustowns and villages and leaving 10,000 peoplehomeless in this diocese alone. Many of thesmaller communities are accessible only bywater. Travel costs are an essential item, aninvestment in mission, so to speak. But whatmatters is that the priests and missionariescontinue to come, for Christ’s missionarycommand knows no frontiers. •

Brazil

God will never abandon us...Bishop Dominique explainshis play.

God always forgives – Bishop Joaquínhearing confessions.

Whoever is with God will find a way –Bishop Joaquín on a mule.

After crossing the Rio Branco –Father Paolino, bringing theWord.

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.