In 2024, $206.4 million was raised in donations to help Christians in need in 137 countries. In Canada, the generosity of benefactors was evident, with a record-breaking $4.1 million raised.
Press Release – ACN Annual Report 2024
Königstein-Montreal, June 18, 2025 – International Pontifical Charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN)’s annual report for 2024 once again reflects the generosity of its benefactors from all over the world with respect to helping suffering Christians and the Church in Need. Ukraine, Lebanon, and India were the countries that received the most aid in 2024, while Africa was the continent that received the most support.
The charity received a total of $206.4 million in donations and legacies in 2024—a sign of the enduring trust and generosity of its benefactors worldwide. This amount, along with 3.3 million in reserves from previous years, allowed ACN to fund activities worth $209.7 million.
The generosity of nearly 360,000 benefactors in the 23 countries where ACN has national offices allowed the international organization to fund 5,335 projects in 137 countries. Furthermore, this support allows ACN to maintain its independence and operate without any financial support from governments.
Record in Canada
In a message to benefactors, Executive President of ACN International, Regina Lynch, states: “Thanks to your generosity, ACN has been able to bring hope to hundreds of thousands of our brothers and sisters in faith, who face daily challenges such as persecution, wars, or sheer poverty.
Many of you experience your own hardships but still you answer God’s call to bring hope to others … At the core of each project is the desire to help the Church be the instrument of God’s message of love for all humankind.”
In Canada, benefactors were more generous than ever. “For the first time, we raised more than $4 million across the country,” expressed Marie-Claude Lalonde, national director of ACN Canada, with joy. “Year after year, more and more people are becoming aware of what their brothers and sisters in faith are enduring, and my impression is that they feel a closer bond with them. This unprecedented outpouring of support also highlights the proverbial generosity of Canadians. Moreover, I think it reflects a better understanding on their part of the major international issues that directly affect Christian communities who, day after day, are living in the throes of war, extreme poverty, or persecution.” Ms. Lalonde warmly thanks all benefactors: “Thank you from the bottom of my heart, and thank you for continuing to be generous and for supporting our mission.”
A total of 79.8% of these funds went directly to mission-related expenses. Within this amount, 84.7% went to aid projects, allowing the charity to fund 5,335 projects out of the 7,296 requests received from all over the world. The remaining 15.3% of the mission-related expenses, or $25.7 million, went to activities related to information work, proclaiming the faith, advocating on behalf of persecuted and suffering Christians, prayer campaigns, and the publishing of religious literature. Administrative expenditures accounted for 7.5% and advertising a further 12.7%, both essential to the functioning of the charity.
Aid with a global reach
The country that received the most aid from ACN in 2024 was Ukraine ($12.45 million), for the third year in a row. Lebanon ($10.97 million) came next, followed by India ($9.93 million).
“Ukraine was again the single country receiving the greatest proportion of our assistance, which has increasingly focused on counselling and supporting those suffering from trauma. We are also continuing to help priests and religious by providing them with subsistence aid, which directly supports their life and ministry. Additionally, we are helping to train seminarians and providing transport, as well as assisting with essential heating for the winter,” Lynch says.
At the regional level, Africa received the most support, with almost a third of resources, or 30.2%, set aside for projects in the continent. Nigeria and Burkina Faso were among the main beneficiary countries in this region.
“Our help for Africa accounted for the largest slice—30.2%—of our project aid last year. The Church in Africa is growing rapidly and is blessed with large numbers of priestly and religious vocations. Africa suffers not only from deep poverty but also from escalating jihadist terrorism in numerous countries. For example, in Burkina Faso alone, our aid has tripled over the past four years as a result,” Lynch explains.
A further 18.7% of ACN funds in 2024 went to Asia and Oceania, the second-highest amount per region, especially to India, which in addition to being the third most supported country in 2024, is also the country where ACN provides the largest number of scholarships and Mass intentions.
The Middle East, with 17.5% of aid, was the region which received the third-highest amount of support, with Lebanon, Syria, and the Holy Land being the primary beneficiaries, following the escalation of armed conflicts.
Latin America and Europe received 16.8% and 15.9% of the total aid respectively. The remaining 0.9% went to other regions.
Thousands of projects offering concrete help
In 2024, ACN provided almost 1.85 million Mass intentions to 42,252 priests, the highest number ever in the charity’s history. Statistically, this means that one in 10 priests received support from ACN and that every 17 seconds, a Mass was celebrated somewhere around the world for the intentions of ACN benefactors.
ACN also supported the formation of almost 10,000 seminarians last year, which accounts for one in every 11 seminarians in the world. Most of these (5,305) were in Africa, which is now home to the highest number of priestly vocations in the world, followed by Latin America with 1,824 seminarians, Asia with 1,752, and Europe with 1,080, of which 700 are in Ukraine.
Support for the formation of priests, religious, and laypeople represented 28.2 % of all the support, whereas Mass intentions for priests and subsistence aid for religious sisters amounted to 23.9%.
Given the high costs of construction projects, this type of aid is at the top of the list, with a little under a quarter of the aid provided (23.6%). In 2024, there were just over 750 construction projects.
Aid to the Church in Need also directed 10.5% of its aid to transport, providing 1,141 means of transportation to help pastoral agents carry out their missions, including 474 cars, 388 bicycles, 264 motorcycles, 11 boats, 3 buses, and 1 truck.
Emergency aid accounted for around 10.7% of expenses, a similar percentage as in the previous year.
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