Release of ACN Canada’s Magazine
Montreal, April 11, 2024 – The first edition of ACN Canada’s Magazine for 2024 is now available! Entitled Nuns, Everyday Heroines, the issue features short portraits of the extraordinary work carried out by nuns around the world. “The word heroines is absolutely fitting,” says Marie-Claude Lalonde, national director of Aid to the Church in Need Canada.
“Through four short stories, we are able to raise awareness of some of the difficult situations nuns go through around the world,” explains the national director. “Examples of these include kidnappings and violence they have endured, but we also highlight the work they do with migrants, as well as the ongoing training they receive to always remain up-to-date on theology and human sciences.”
Women of the Gospel, in all circumstances
Sister Gloria is a Colombian nun and former missionary in Mali. It was in this Sahel country that that she was abducted on February 7, 2017. She would only be freed close to four years later, on October 9, 2021. “This Franciscan Sister of Mary Immaculate nun became a friend of ACN,” Lalonde recounts. “Like everyone else, we were moved by her story. When she signed the preface to our report on religious freedom, she revealed to us her poignant experience,” she says.
In this spring’s issue of the Magazine, we share excerpts from an interview she gave in which she tells us about her abduction: “Yet, despite these adverse circumstances, the bad weather, the daily abuse, the humiliations, the deprivation of food and water, I have never—not once—failed to thank God for allowing me to wake up and be alive in the midst of all these difficulties and dangers: how could I fail to praise You, bless You, and thank You, my God? For You have filled me with peace in the face of insults and abuse!” The nun also confided: “I also prayed—and I continue to pray—for my abductors.”
Another heroic testimony is that of the nuns who, in the town of Necoclí on the northwestern tip of Colombia, welcome far more migrants than tourists. “Welcoming migrants is one of the important points of Pope Francis’ pontificate,” says Lalonde. “On their journey in search of a better life, thousands of people find comfort in the unconditional welcome of nuns from at least three congregations. They feed them, listen to them, pray with them, and above all, they are a final smile, a last comfort before the crossing of Central America and Mexico—which we can imagine is very difficult—, most of them hoping to reach the United States. These nuns are responding magnificently to the Gospel’s call to welcome the stranger,” says Lalonde.
“Finally, in these times of conflict, war, and polarization at every turn, I would like to emphasize that, in the face of violence, these nuns work without armours or guns to make the world a better place. They are an inspiration to us all! Please support them with your prayers and donations.”
The Magazine can be viewed or downloaded directly from the Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Canada website at https://acn-canada.org/magazine/
For more information, please call 1-800-585-6333, ext. 224 or write to com@acn-canada.org.
