It all began with “the Bacon Priest”

“Our work consists of drying the tears of God wherever He weeps” – Fr Werenfried van Straaten (1913-2003), ACN Founder

What started in 1947 as a humble response by a young Norbertine priest to the emergency situation of more than 15 million people displaced by the horrors of World War II, has today grown into a Charity under the Pontifical Foundation with 23 national offices around the world including Malta – a Charity that is bringing spiritual and material aid to millions of poor, suffering and persecuted faithful in close to 150 countries of the world.

His name was Fr Werenfried van Straaten which means “warrior for peace”. Responding to an appeal for reconciliation made by Pope Pius XII in the bitter early years after World War II, he set out to organise emergency relief to meet the material and spiritual needs of the suffering German people. With the help of thousands of concerned and compassionate people, he more than succeeded. His impassioned preaching and calls for reconciliation touched hearts and supplies of clothes and food poured in – particularly sides of pork – earning him his nickname, the Bacon Priest. In one instance, he launched a ‘Rucksack Priest’ campaign to send priests out on motorbikes and early Volkswagen Beetles to people still displaced, bereft and in need of comfort. This was soon followed by a Chapel Truck initiative using decommissioned army trucks which were adapted as mobile chapels from which Mass could be said. Fr Werenfried always believed his true vocation in life was simply to be “a beggar for God’s suffering children.” He travelled the world with his famous black Begging Hat, to beg on behalf of the suffering, tirelessly working to bring God’s love and comfort to those in need of it most. In 2003, for his passion and dedication to serving those in need, His Holiness John Paul II honoured Fr Werenfried, naming him as an “Outstanding Apostle of Charity.” Such has been the impact of Aid to the Church in Need’s work worldwide that in June 2002 the Charity was described by the then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI) as “a gift of Providence for our time” and in  November 2011, Aid to the Church in Need was raised to the status of a pontifical foundation by the then Pope Benedict XVI.

Fr Werenfried passed away in January 2003, just after his 90th birthday, but his spirit is very much alive in the work of Aid to the Church in Need today. Thanks to the many thousands of caring, committed benefactors who reach out to God’s suffering children, Fr Werenfried’s beautiful vision of creating an “international movement of love” lives on, bringing the light and hope of Christ wherever there is darkness and despair around the world.