Our History

From its beginning, ACN has been bringing pastoral support and hope to suffering Christians. We continue in this spirit, at the hand of our benefactors, to help the Church keep the Faith alive where it is most threatened by persecution, discrimination or poverty.

1947 - Father Werenfried van Straaten, at the request of Pope Pius XII, founds "Aid to the Eastern Priests" (later becoming Aid to the Church in Need) at Tongerlo Abbey in Belgium. Donations are collected in Belgium and the Netherlands for displaced Germans, including 3,000 priests, after the Second World War.

1950 - 35 buses and trucks are converted into "chapels on wheels" as a means to reach displaced Germans providing them with pastoral care as part of the "chapel truck campaign", hailed for its originality. .

1952 - In support of persecuted Christians behind the Iron Curtain, ACN funds projects including the renovation of churches, the training of priests, radio broadcasts and the book apostolate.

1956 - After the bloody suppression of the Hungarian uprising against the Stalinist system, ACN helps the local Church get through the crisis.

1961 - ACN launches aid projects for the beleaguered Church in Asia. Following the launch, Father Werenfried meets Mother Teresa for the first time in the Home for the Dying in Calcutta.

1962 - ACN steps up its aid for persecuted and threatened Catholics in the “Catholic continent” of Latin America.

1965 - The Church in Africa petitions ACN to assist with the same commitment as on other continents.

1966 - ACN is consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima, which is then celebrated the following year with a large international pilgrimage to mark the 50^th anniversary of the apparitions in Fatima in 1917.

1970 - We launch our aid campaign to assist the Church in Haiti, one of the world’s poorest countries.

1975 - ACN relocates its international headquarters from Rome to Königstein im Taunus in Germany.

1979 - ACN launches it's Children's Bible, which to date has been translated into 191 languages and printed and distributed over 51 million times.

1984 - ACN is recognised by the Holy See, the central governing body of the Catholic Church, as a Universal Public Association of Pontifical Right.

1989 - Following the political turning point in Eastern Europe and the fall of the Berlin Wall, ACN provides aid for reconstruction and new evangelisation in the former Eastern Bloc countries.

1992 - ACN begins to work towards dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church, by order of Pope St. John Paul II.

1997 - This year marks the 50^th anniversary of ACN and it's efforts on behalf of the Church in need worldwide.

2003 - ACN Founder Father Werenfried van Straaten dies on 31^st January age of 90 in Bad Soden am Taunus, Germany.

2007 - Conflict in the Middle East causes more and more difficulties for the Church in the region. As a result, Pope Benedict XVI asks ACN to intensify its activities for Christians in the region.

2011 - ACN is elevated to a Foundation of Pontifical Right by Pope Benedict XVI and subsequently restructured. ACN also begins extensive aid solidarity campaigns including the “Light a Candle for Peace in Syria” initiative as war breaks out in Syria.

2014 - ACN initiates an emergency campaign to allow Christians in Iraq to remain in their homeland. This project continues to this day, with more than 5,000 homes having already been renovated.

ACN becomes the sole shareholder and publisher of the YOUCAT Foundation. The work is very popular amongst Catholic youth all over the world, with translations into no fewer than 58 languages. ACN also opens its first Asian office in South Korea. This is followed by further offices in Mexico, Malta, Colombia, Slovakia and the Philippines up until 2019.

2017 - To mark the ACN's 70^th anniversary, benefactors are invited from all over the world on a pilgrimage to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal. In the same year, ACN assumes responsibility for the annual One Million Children Praying the Rosary campaign.

2019 - With the Safeguarding project, ACN is helping the church to introduce measures to prevent abuse and is encouraging safeguarding courses for priests and religious worldwide.

2020 - ACN helps the Church worldwide in their efforts to combat the coronavirus pandemic and grants special assistance to cushion the impact of the coronavirus crisis for local churches. Following the explosion in Beirut’s harbour, ACN is launching a major aid campaign for Lebanon.

2022 - Immediately after the start of the war in Ukraine, ACN launches a large-scale relief operation to enable the local Church to assist those who had fled their homes and to continue providing pastoral care to those traumatised by the fighting.