Press release – For Immediate release
Montreal-Königstein, January 23, 2025 – Pontifical Charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is calling for a Global Day of Prayer for peace in Myanmar, which will be celebrated on February 1. On this date, which marks an important anniversary in the country’s recent history, the charity’s headquarters and 23 national offices will join forces, inviting people from all over the world to join in a spirit of solidarity and hope.
“It’s one of the many forgotten conflicts in the world,” says Marie-Claude Lalonde, national director of ACN Canada. “It has already been four years and there is little sign that the guns will fall silent, which is why it’s so important to pray for peace in Myanmar,” she believes.
In Canada, monks from the Cistercian Abbey of Our Lady of Nazareth in Rougemont have confirmed that they will join this important international initiative and take an hour on February 1 to pray for peace in Myanmar.
For Regina Lynch, executive president of ACN International, the day is a time to pray for “peace” and “reconciliation.”
“We are deeply moved by the situation in Myanmar. This day is an opportunity for everyone, regardless of their place of origin, to unite in a collective plea for peace and reconciliation.”
“During the day of prayer, we want to remember the victims and deceased in the conflict, asking for comfort for their families and eternal peace for those who have departed. Our brothers and sisters experience bombings, hunger, lack of electricity and means; priests and religious often have to travel for days to reach the more distant parishes, experiencing dangerous situations but in spite of everything, they continue to carry out their work,” explains Lynch.
“They thank us for the help of benefactors and ask us, ‘Please pray for us, pray for our safety, pray for our families, pray for our people,’ so that’s what we want to do,” she says.
How to Participate
The day will be divided into prayer shifts, allowing global participation for 24 hours. Each of ACN’s national offices will lead their own moments of guided prayer, but people can also pray individually and join us at the following page: https://acninternational.org/prayer/ .
On this day, ACN proposes to remember other intentions as well. Among them the faithful who have been displaced from their homes and who live in hiding, facing uncertainty and poverty; for young people, many of whom have been displaced by the war and face a difficult future due to constant threats; for the male and female religious, who risk their lives to bring spiritual aid, sometimes living out in the open to protect themselves from the bombings, yet who do not lose hope, as well as for the vocations that are emerging in the midst of this suffering.
Aid to the Church in Need, the international pontifical charity of the Catholic Church that supports suffering and persecuted Christians and communities in need in more than 140 countries, invites benefactors, friends, and project partners from around the world to join this initiative. It also encourages everyone to share this invitation on social networks and in community circles, so that the message of peace can spread even further.
For more information on the event, please contact Valérie Vulcain at vv@acn-canada.org, or by phone at 514-932-0552, ext. 227.
