A pilgrim image of Our Lady of Fátima, blessed by Pope Paul VI in 1967, was recently at the international head office of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in Königstein im Taunus, Germany. ACN International’s executive president, Regina Lynch, stressed the connection between the charity and the message of Fátima, referring to the Virgin Mary—who appeared to shepherd children in 1917—as the organization’s “patron saint.”
“Dear Friends, it is with great pleasure that I present the Virgin of Fátima,” said Regina Lynch, executive president of the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), during the visit of the pilgrim image of Our Lady of Fátima to the charity’s head office in Königstein im Taunus, Germany. This very image was blessed on May 13, 1967, by Pope Paul VI, on the 50th anniversary of the Fátima apparitions.
“The origin of ACN is closely linked to the apparitions and grace of Fátima, where Our Lady chose to show the Church the path to triumph over evil in the world, through love, prayer, sacrifice, and consecration to her Immaculate Heart,” explained Ms. Lynch. She noted that this connection relates to the charity itself, but also extends to its staff, benefactors, friends, and volunteers, as well as all those who, in one form and another, support and encourage ACN, whose goal is to help and serve Christians in need all over the world. “She is our patron saint, the patroness of ACN, and we really rely on her blessings and intercession before God when it comes to supporting all those people who we want to help through our aid to projects, but also when it comes to helping all our benefactors, and she watches over and protects us. So, it is really a privilege to have her here today, and we should always pray and ask that she intercede on our behalf,” said the executive president.
A story that began in 1967
The connection between Our Lady of Fátima and ACN has deep roots. The message of Our Lady of Fátima left a deep impression on Father Werenfried von Straaten, who founded ACN in 1947, in the aftermath of the Second World War. On the 50th anniversary of the apparitions, in 1967, Pope Paul VI blessed several pilgrim images of Fátima, including the one which visited the head office, and the decision was made to consecrate ACN to Our Lady of Fátima at that time. The symbolic act took place on September 14, 1967, during the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), during which the consecration to Our Lady of Fatima was renewed. Over the past 25 years, AED has financed more than 400 projects linked to this Marian devotion.
Every year since, ACN has renewed this consecration, with the Portuguese office gathering its benefactors and friends for this purpose at the Fátima Shrine. In 2017, an international pilgrimage, presided by Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, brought together benefactors from all over the world to commemorate the centenary of the apparitions, as well as the 70th anniversary of ACN and the 50th anniversary of the organization’s consecration to Mary. During a solemn event at the Basilica of the Most Holy Trinity in Fátima, before hundreds of benefactors and members of ACN’s national offices, the consecration of Aid to the Church in Need was repeated, and the words rang out again this year in Königstein im Taunus, Germany, before the pilgrim image.
“Holy Mary, Mother of God, look upon your children, who turn to you in prayer. You, who always said yes to God, are blessed among women. Mold our heart according to yours in the joyfulness of your spirit. To you, mother of sorrows and Immaculate Virgin, we consecrate our life and the entire work that has been given to us to be fulfilled in serving the persecuted and threatened Church. Protect us and all who are dear to us. Protect all those who have been entrusted to us by God. Grant us your faith, your hope, your love. Take us under your protection as a mother, and always remain with us. Amen.”
