“I was sick and alone, but the sisters took me in”

A priest’s testimony of how religious sisters in Venezuela cared for him until the end Spanish priest Father Alfonso Delgado, who arrived in Venezuela in the seventies with a group of fellow missionaries, gradually found himself alone as the years passed and his companions passed away. However, he found a home among the Sisters of …

ACN Success Story – Bolivia

A new chapel for a rural parish The parish of Saint Francis Xavier is in a very rural region of the Diocese of San Ignacio de Velasco, in the tropical eastern part of Bolivia. The people here are very poor and live mainly off traditional subsistence farming, and the region is largely undeveloped. Juancito is …

ACN Success Story – Brazil

Renovation and extension of the parish church in Placas There is great rejoicing among the faithful in the parish of Placas, in northern Brazil, in Amazonia. On November 10, 2024, thanks to the help of our wonderful benefactors, who generously donated $107,800, they were able to reopen and solemnly consecrate their new and enlarged parish …

Ecuador – The commitment of a priest changes the life of a community and parish!

With 54 years of service in a rural parish in the Diocese of Guaranda, Ecuador, Salesian priest, Father Antonio Polo, has changed the region through his pastoral and spiritual efforts, but also with the help of the local population, through business ventures such as the development of Salinerito  (Salinerito, tienda en línea). When Fr. Antonio …

Project of the Week – Colombia

Subsistence aid for religious sisters in Ipiales The order of the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary was founded in Spain in the 15th century. Today its work is mainly focused on Latin America, while most of its convents in Europe are found in Spain. However, it also has convents in India and Africa (Equatorial …

Being a priest today: One of the most dangerous missions in the world

The number of priests and religious kidnapped in 2024 increased, while the number arrested for reasons of persecution decreased. In total, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) registered 122 cases impacting priests and religious, including 13 murders, 38 kidnappings, and 71 held under arrest. Ten of these incidents involved women, eight of whom were …

ACN Project of the Week – Ecuador

A vehicle for a parish in the Andes The parish of San José de Cuatro Esquinas (Saint Joseph of the Four Corners) in the Diocese of Guaranda lies at an altitude of well over 10,000 feet (3,100 m), around 8 km from the city of Guaranda, capital of Bolivar Province. It includes over 50 villages …

Colombia – Bombing destroys bishops’ residence and offices in Apostolic Vicariate of Guapi

A powerful explosion in a violent terrorist attack, aimed at the police station in the city of Guapi, in southwest Colombia, left three people dead and destroyed a large part of the bishop’s residence and offices of the Apostolic Vicariate of Guapi, in the early hours of November 2nd. The explosion left the Church buildings …

Brazil: Rescuing God’s children from the slavery of addiction

Fr. José Luis de Menezes speaks to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) about the origins of the Fazendas da Esperança, a network of rehabilitation centres, and their connection, to this day, with the pontifical charity. Fr. ”Our communities are dedicated to salvaging the dignity of people who have lost themselves to addiction,” says …

ACN Success Story – Brazil

A riverboat for an Amazonian parish The Diocese of Humaitá lies deep in the Amazon region and serves a vast area of around 135,000 km². Most of it is covered by rainforest, however, and is only sparsely populated. Many of the communities lie on the riverbanks and can only be reached via water. The river …