Aid for Christians in Iraq and Syria

By Thomas V. Mirus ( bio - articles - email ) | Jan 05, 2015 | In On the Good

If you read CatholicCulture.org regularly, you’re probably aware of the suffering of Christians in Iraq and Syria, who have been displaced from their homeland by Islamic extremists. Pope Francis has repeatedly asked Catholics to pray for our beleaguered brethren in the Middle East.

Aside from prayer, there are a few other things we can do to help. One of them is to donate to Aid to the Church in Need – USA, a Catholic charity under the guidance of the Holy Father. ACN has recently received a pledge from an anonymous donor to match donations up to $500,000, meaning that if that maximum is met, $1,000,000 will go to helping the Christians of Iraq and Syria.

All of this money goes straight to things like the construction of schools for 7,500 displaced Christian children, the funding of rental accommodation for families, care packages for children and emergency food, water and medicine.

In addition to making a personal donation, you can form a fundraising team in your community or parish, for which ACN’s website provides materials. You could also organize a prayer vigil for our brothers and sisters in Iraq and Syria and for peace in the Middle East; ACN will provide as many prayer cards as you need.