Aid to the Church in Need, a Pontifical Foundation of the Catholic Church, is dedicated to helping persecuted and oppressed Christians live out their faith.
According to “Persecuted and Forgotten?,“ ACN’s report released in November of 2019, Christians around the world are kidnapped, murdered, and often targeted by violent militant extremists who see them as a legitimate alternative to a direct strike against the West.
Every year ACN funds over 5,000 projects in more than 140 countries to help provide pastoral and spiritual support for those who need it.
While material support to help priests, seminarians and religious sisters serve their communities is very much in need, they are also in need of your prayers.
As part of their #Go2Mass campaign, Aid to the Church in Need is asking for an hour of your time to go to Mass for a suffering Christian.
Our #Go2Mass campaign is about interceding for those suffering injustice, assault, kidnap, forced conversion, torture and death and answering Pope Francis’ call to pray for the persecuted. Give an hour of your time and #Go2Mass for a suffering Christian > https://t.co/GacfyuhwAfpic.twitter.com/k0twUDldub
— Aid to the Church in Need UK (@acn_uk) January 16, 2020
The campaign calls on Catholics to answer Pope Francis’ call to pray for the persecuted, when he said, “Today there are more [martyrs] than in the first ages – but the media says nothing about them, because it’s not news.”
For those who would like to “Go to Mass for someone who can’t,” they offer these suggestions:
- Go to a Mass you wouldn’t normally go to. If you already go on Sundays go to an extra Mass in the week. If you don’t go on a Sunday, go then.
- Offer the Mass for all persecuted Christians/a particular person being persecuted/a country e.g. North Korea, Syria, Nigeria etc.
- Share your #Go2Mass post – Take a selfie outside the Church and share your post using #Go2Mass
To learn more visit acnuk.org.
And today we celebrate...