Europe
In 2024, our aid to the Church in Europe once again primarily focused on addressing the impacts of the war in Ukraine. In the third year of the war, our organisation continued to provide a high level of support to the local Church, so that priests and religious could continue to stand by the people who are suffering severely from the war and are increasingly sinking into hopelessness. During the reporting year, we helped the Church in Ukraine with 8.4 million euros. But the Church in other countries of Eastern, Central and Northern Europe is also still dependent on help.
It is foreseeable that the Church in Ukraine will continue to need significant amounts of aid in the coming years – not only for recon- struction efforts, but also and above all for the spiritual healing of the people. Our local partners stress the importance of supporting those in need, helping them to overcome their inner exhaustion and resist despair. For this reason, ACN maintains close contact with the representatives of the local Church and will continue to support them in the future in assisting traumatised people and refugees by responding to their emotional and material needs.
Subsistence aid for religious sisters in the Ukrainian Diocese of Odessa-Simferopol.
and parishes, especially in those places where the Catholic Church is a minority. By way of an example, the sharp rise in energy costs, in particular, is making it increasingly challenging for them to remain financially stable. Whether in Ukraine, the Baltic states, Northern Europe, Albania or Bosnia and Herzegovina – during the reporting year, we were once again able to help religious in many countries with subsistence aid and priests with Mass stipends. Additional funds were also allocated for essential renovations to church buildings. And in places where priests and religious sisters have large areas to look after, we were able to assist them with the purchase of vehicles.
» The war in Ukraine has significantly increased the need for aid. «
However, even before the war in Ukraine, local Churches in some European countries needed additio- nal support. Our aid is deeply appre- ciated by religious communities
ACN Activity Report 2024 | 69
Europe |
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