UK Catholics to Join 2nd July Protest!

John Pontifex Head of Press and Information to Aid to the Church in Need

We are pleased to announce that today a leading international Catholic charity has confirmed

its participation at our protest against persecution of minorities in Pakistan on 2nd July 2011.

Mr John Pontifex, Head of Press and Information of Aid to the Church in Need (UK), received our request for a Catholic speaker directly from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England & Wales. The request followed a meeting between Wilson and Fiona Paley, Public Liaisons Officer for Westminster Cathedral, London SW1.

John, who has edited a series of international reports on persecuted Christians and has travelled widely across the Middle East and the Asian sub-continent, has kindly agreed to speak at our event. His talk will draw on his fact-finding visits to Pakistan and close liaison with the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan.

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is recognised for its expertise on the suffering Church in Pakistan and the charity is directly under the authority of the Vatican.

Aid to the Church in Need is supported by 100,000 or more people in the UK and as an international charity fulfils 5,000 projects every year in 140 countries. The charity’s projects include the training of priests and nuns, building churches, printing and distributing Child’s Bibles and other Christian education programmes, Catholic television, radio and newspapers and emergency help for people fleeing persecution.

We include ACN’s aims and objectives which have been taken directly from the charity’s website.

Our Mission

Helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action 

Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. In the UK, the charity has a national office in Sutton, Surrey and a Scottish office in Motherwell. 

Our objectives 

As set out in the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Charitable Company the objects of Aid to the Church in Need’s mission are:

• to advance the Christian religion by supporting and promoting the Church, especially in countries where Christians are suffering persecution or discrimination;
• to further the other charitable work of the Church by providing practical assistance and pastoral care for persons in need, especially those who are living in, or are refugees from, such countries.

Our work around the world 

Each year Aid to the Church in Need makes grants to help fund around 5,000 projects, primarily in the following areas:

• provision of catechetical material and books
• broadcasting the Faith
• help with church buildings
• support for the training of seminarians
• grants for the formation of religious and catechists
• subsidies for priests through grants and Mass stipends
• emergency aid to refugees
• provision of transport for those involved in the Church’s mission.
  
  
  More info on Aid to the Church in Need can be found by clicking the link below:
  
  
  http://www.acnuk.org/