Aid for Religious

Most of the hosts, or altar breads, which, during the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, become the Body of Christ in the hands of His priests, are in fact manufactured by contemplative religious sisters, working in prayerful silence. This work is not only ideally suited to the contemplative life but, at the same time, represents a vital service to the local church, since every parish needs these hosts in order to celebrate the Holy Eucharist – the source and summit ...

The city of Ushhorod lies within the Greek Catholic eparchy – or diocese – of Mukatshevo in West Ukraine, on the border with Slovakia. This area is more remote from the ongoing war and has taken in thousands of refugees. The Greek-Catholic seminary here – named after the martyred Bishop Theodore Romzha, murdered in 1947 and beatified by Pope John Paul II in June 2001 during his visit to Ukraine – has been supported by ACN since its very beginnings. ...

Across vast swaths of Ecuador, poverty and violence are making life difficult for many parts of the population. Social inequalities are becoming still more extreme, leaving many families broken and torn apart. Many people are leaving the country at the first opportunity in hopes of finding a better life elsewhere. There are many families in need of help, and the Catholic Church is frequently the first place they turn to. The religious sisters, in particular, are “ministering angels” to so ...

The Republic of Moldova lies to the east of Romania and to the south and west of Ukraine. This small country, which became independent in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union, is one of the poorest in Europe. A significant portion of the adult population regularly spends shorter or longer periods living abroad in order to earn a living. As a result, children and elderly people are often left behind alone. Sadly, many mothers return only after many ...

The congregation of the Holy Family has 54 sisters in Ukraine. They have nine convents altogether and perform a range of different duties, including running an orphanage, a retreat house, and a center offering psychological and spiritual help and accompaniment to those in need. They also work as catechists and sacristans in the parishes, while some work in the hospitals or care for handicapped children. Three of the sisters are lecturers at the Catholic University in Lviv. And since the ...

The congregation of the Missionary Sisters of the Immaculate Virgin Mary and Saint Catherine of Siena was established in 1914 in Colombia. As a young teacher, Laura Montoya – who was canonized in 2013 – felt the call to care for the indigenous tribal peoples in the Colombian rainforest and teach their children. Together with five other women, including her own mother, she devoted herself to this demanding task. Initially, she was met with great opposition in society, and many ...

Belize is a small country of only about 400,000 souls in Central America. Since it is a former British colony, English is spoken here. But many of its inhabitants are migrants from other Central American countries.   Agriculture is the main source of economic income in the country, and many people live and work on the banana, orange, and coconut plantations. Tourism is also important, and building work in the main tourist areas is a major source of employment, as is ...

In the year 1212, the young and beautiful Chiara Offreduccio di Favarone slipped quietly out of her wealthy parental home, leaving behind her loved ones, her safety, and her comfort, in order to embrace a life of poverty, chastity, and obedience and give the rest of her life to her bridegroom Jesus Christ.  She had been “infected” by the ideals of Saint Francis of Assisi, and so her horrified family were faced with a fait accompli. She had her hair ...

Most people tend to think of the Dominican Republic as a holiday paradise, with idyllic sandy beaches. Many are astonished to discover that there is, in fact, great poverty there.   The west of the country, bordering on its crisis-ridden neighbor, Haiti, is an almost forgotten region, facing major economic, social, and pastoral challenges. The poverty is particularly extreme in the so-called “Bateyes.” These were originally temporary hut settlements, built in the first half of the 20th century, for use by ...

Karamles, or Karamlesh, was an ancient city and is now a small town, 18 miles southeast of Mosul in the Nineveh Plains region of northern Iraq. It is a mainly Christian town, with the majority belonging to the Chaldean Catholic Church.   In August 2014, Karamles was overtaken by fighters of the so-called Islamic State (IS), and almost all its inhabitants were forced to flee. When Pope Francis visited Iraq in March of 2021, he celebrated Holy Mass in Erbil, where ...