Aid to the Church in Need exists to support suffering, oppressed and persecuted Christians
In fact, we are the only international Catholic charity dedicated to this mission.
Learn moreA Church in Need
Everyone knows that the Catholic Church provides for those in need. Indeed, the Catholic Church is the largest charitable organisation in the world. What many do not know, is that the Catholic people themselves are often in need of urgent help, especially in nations affected by displacement or catastrophe. Further, more than 200 million Christians cannot freely exercise their faith; they suffer persecution and oppression for their love of Christ.
Their needs not only include the physical, known as the corporal works of mercy - food, water, shelter, clothing - but, of more eternal consequence, they hunger and thirst for the spiritual works of mercy - provision for prayer, formation, worship and the sacraments. This latter category forms the unique mission of Aid to the Church in Need; we are a spiritual and pastoral foundation bringing the light of the Catholic faith into those places where it is at greatest risk of extinction.
"Whereas most of the other charities have come into being in response to hunger, disease, poverty, illiteracy and natural disasters, our concern is directed above all at the spiritual and religious need into which countless people are plunged. Our help is ultimately aimed at the salvation of immortal souls. That is why we are a pastoral organisation"
Fr Werenfried Van Straaten
Founder, Aid to the Church in Need
Our Story
At the end of World War II, Europe lay in ruin. Millions of men, women and children had been displaced from their homes and were suffering material poverty and spiritual neglect.
In 1947, into this dark hour, a young Dutch priest, Werenfriend van Straaten, was asked to take charge of a special relief campaign for the exiled Catholics in Germany - priests and laity. Father Werenfried began to appeal to the Catholic people of Belgium and the Netherlands, calling them to move past their hatred for the Germans and see in the suffering of these innocent people, the face of the suffering Christ.
His pleas unleashed a flood of generosity and Aid to the Church in Need was born.
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