Aid to the Church in Need: Fr Werenfried van Straaten honoured for his life's work

Fr Werenfried van Straaten honoured for his life's work

Posted by Information Report on 23/12/2002, 1:54 pm
Message modified by board administrator 24/12/2002, 6:59 am

FATHER WERENFRIED VAN STRAATEN HONOURED FOR HIS LIFE'S WORK
18th December 2002. The mayor of Königstein, Siegfried Fricke, today honoured Father Werenfried van Straaten O.Praem, the founder of the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, by awarding him the freedom of the town. This recognition was being granted, the mayor said, in recognition of the life's work of Father Werenfried, who was now quite rightly known as the "most successful beggar in the world". In his address Mayor Fricke outlined the life of this now almost 90-year-old Norbertine priest.
Born on 13 January 1913 in Mijdrecht, near Amsterdam, Phillip van Straaten entered the Norbertine abbey of Tongerlo in Belgium in 1934, taking the religious name of Werenfried (in Dutch, a "warrior for peace"). He was ordained in 1940 and at Christmas 1947 he resolved to help the Germans who had been expelled from their former homes in Eastern Europe. To do this he collected donations in cash and in kind - including most notably bacon - among the local Flemish country people. As a result he quickly earned the nickname of "bacon priest", a name he is still known by today. Right from the start he saw it as his life's mission to work to overcome hatred among men and to promote the cause of peace and reconciliation. In the 1950s Father Werenfried began to support the persecuted and oppressed Christians in Eastern Europe, behind the Iron Curtain. From the 1960s onwards he extended the range of the charity he had founded to Latin America, Africa and Asia. As a result Aid to the Church in Need is today helping the poor, the needy and the oppressed almost everywhere in the world. Since the collapse of communism in the East, Father Werenfried has also worked with all his energy for reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church. Mayor Fricke noted that the current priority of Aid to the Church in Need is to support the building and repair of church properties, the training and support of priests and religious and the dissemination of religious literature. Mayor Fricke put the total funds raised by the charity, which has had its international headquarters in Königstein since 1975, at "around 3 billion Euros".

The charity today helps in over 130 countries around the globe and thus draws important Church dignitaries from all over the world to its international headquarters in Königstein. Referring to this fact, the mayor remarked in conclusion that "through Father Werenfried Königstein has become known to the world and the world has come to Königstein." In her address Antonia Willemsen, the present general secretary of Aid to the Church in Need, also stressed the close bond between the charity and the town of Königstein and its people. Father Werenfried responded by expressing his gratitude for the honour accorded him.
For further information please contact
Information Service
Phone/Fax:02 9679-1929
e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org
Internet: www.aidtochurch.org

Photo: Father Werenfried van Straaten (O. Praem.) with the collection taken following the award ceremony.

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Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148 ABN: 62 418 911 594
Ph/Fax (02) 9679-1929 e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org web: www.aidtochurch.org