The war in Ukraine and the devastating earthquake in Syria and Turkey, the persecution of christians in Pakistan, the Middle East, Nigeria, and other African countries, marked the world with suffering in 2023.
The almost 360,000 benefactors of Aid to the Church in Need worldwide have provided comfort to countless victims, responding with generosity and promptness to the calls for help that we addressed to them throughout the year. They contributed 143,737,504 euros to finance a total of 5,573 pastoral and emergency projects in 138 countries. We thank God and each one of them, therefore.
The Church in Africa received almost a third of the aid, due to the increase in vocations and Islamist violence. Ukraine was the country that received the most aid (€7.5 million). Our aid to Eastern Europe amounted to 14.3%. Asia received 17.3%. Middle East, 19.1%. You responded immediately to the crisis in the Holy Land, and you continue to help in 2024. In Latin America, our aid was 15.3%. We would like to continue supporting, with your collaboration, the pastoral and psychological assistance to people traumatized by war and persecution, and to intensify aid in the Sahel, in the face of jihadist violence against Christians.
It is a blessing for all of us who are part of ACN to see that the bridge of mutual aid established between the suffering Church and the rest of the universal Church becomes broader, more solid and more fraternal every year.
2023: a year of suffering and abundant blessings
Thank you to all the benefactors for your loyalty
Training for priests, religious and lay people accounted for 26.7% of total aid, while Mass stipends for priests and support for religious life amounted to 21.6%. Due to the high cost of construction projects, this type of aid also took first place in 2023, with just over a quarter of the aid from our benefactors (26.8%). The rest was allocated to pastoral resources, such as vehicles, religious literature, radio stations and other means of communication, and to emergency aid in extreme situations. Thousands of priests, nuns and lay people have been strengthened in their ministry thanks to your help, and have assured us that they pray for all ACN benefactors.
Every year Aid to the Church in Need prepares an in-depth report of more than 100 pages on the Foundation, on all the activity it carries out, by type of project, as well as an analysis of annual aid by continents and countries.
2023: Record donations and 5,314 new donors
2023 began with the devastating news of the Syrian earthquake in February, which caused an unprecedented seismic wave of generosity in our country. Our benefactors came to the aid of affected christians, and their loving reaction explains the increase in the number of donations over the past year.
Thanks to the generosity of all of them, in 2023 we raised 15,801,026 euros in donations, which was 17.2% more than what was achieved in 2022 (13,479,191 euros). In this way, total income amounted to 18,432,320 euros, -4.8% compared to the previous year due to the decrease in income from inheritances and legacies. In 2023, 2,609,438 euros were materialized in this section, compared to 5,866,866 euros in 2022.
There was more income from donations and more new benefactors who wanted to join the mission of supporting suffering Christians around the world. A total of 5,314 people have become first-time donors to our Foundation in 2023, which means an increase in new benefactors of more than 69%.
ACN does not receive any public aid or subsidies
