Posted by ACN News on 19/6/2012, 4:46 pm
Board Administrator

ACN News: Tuesday, 19th June 2012 – CHILE “Chapel tents” from ACN nominated for Barcelona architecture festival By Reinhard Backes The “chapel tents” of the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) will be presented at this year’s EME3 architecture festival in Barcelona (Spain) from 28 June to 1 July. The design of Chilean architect Gonzalo Mardones, who is also on the board of ACN Chile, was nominated for the category “Share it”. Following the devastating earthquake in Chile on 27th February 2010, a total of 45 of these emergency churches were rapidly designed and built, and used as interim places of worship by thousands of the faithful for many months. The severe earthquake claimed the lives of 521 persons and left some two million more homeless. Concepción, Chile’s second most important economic centre, was particularly hard hit. The city was the site of the epicentre of the first quake, which was followed by over 270 aftershocks. With a strength of 8.8 on the Richter scale, the earthquake also destroyed numerous churches and church buildings. Because the quake coincided with the onset of winter, ACN responded immediately. The national office in Chile appealed for donations in order to meet the extreme pastoral needs in the wake of the disaster. Thanks to generous support from all over the world, ACN was able to grant over € 200,000 in immediate aid. A chapel tent has space for around 100 persons. It consists of a steel structure anchored to the ground by a dozen concrete blocks and covered with tent tarpaulins. The tarpaulins are intended to evoke the protective mantle of the Virgin Mary; likewise, the 14 posts symbolise the Stations of the Cross. Light falls on the altar through an opening in the tent roof – a symbol for resurrection and hope. (The inauguration of the chapel tent in Chepica, Chile) Editor’s Notes Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action. The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, Aid to the Church in Need’s Child’s Bible – God Speaks to his Children has been translated into 162 languages and 48 million copies have been distributed all over the world. While ACN gives full permission for the media to freely make use of the charity’s press releases, please acknowledge ACN as the source of stories when using the material. For more information or to make a donation to help the work of Aid to the Church in Need, please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 6245 Blacktown DC NSW 2148. On Line donations can be made at www.aidtochurch.org