In a message from Philip Ozores, the new Secretary General of international charity – Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), to the people of Gozo, said “the Church needs your support to help all those who need our Mercy.”

Philip Ozores, who was recently appointed Secretary General of ACN, visited the Maltese Islands this week.

In an interview on Radju Marija, Mr Ozores said this was his second visit to the Maltese Islands, as he had attended a conference on Religious Persecution here in 2014. He expressed his gratitude to the people of Gozo for their support to ACN and Christians worldwide who need our help.

Mr Ozores gave thanks to all Catholics in Gozo for being a “Lighthouse of Faith” to everyone. He described Malta and Gozo as “islands of rock and also a rock of solid faith in the midst of problems in Europe.”

He said he was delighted to hear that the Pope had chosen 2016 as a “Year of Mercy” as Mercy is at the heart of everything that ACN does. Thanks to the mercy of our benefactors, ACN is able to carry out aid projects in 140 countries worldwide.

Mr Ozores explained that the Pope wants to use ACN as a major channel for Mercy projects worldwide and on the 17th of June, ACN will initiate a global call to ask all Catholics to support these projects.

Mr Ozores came to the Maltese Islands to encourage the local ACN team in the task of going out and spreading this message to their fellow countrymen, “The Church needs you support to help all those who need our Mercy.”

ACN Malta is the local office of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN ), an international Catholic organisation which primarily strives to help nurture the faith and well-being of persecuted and suffering Christians worldwide.

Founded in 1947 by Fr Werenfried van Straaten, whom St John Paul II named “An outstanding Apostle of Charity,” ACN supports important projects undertaken by the local Church (bishops, priests, Sisters and lay people) in over 140 countries including Iraq and Syria. These range from giving aid to refugees and building churches to providing essential transport for our field workers and even distributing copies of our Child’s Bible.

Philip Ozores, who had been finance director of ACN since 2013, was recently appointed Secretary-General. He was born in Frankfurt am Main in 1979, of Spanish-German parents and was formerly part of the management team of the German branch of the Order of Malta.

He has also worked as a consultant for the international consulting firm McKinsey. He is married and has three children.

Philipp Ozores replaced executive president John Baron von Heereman Zuydtwyck who led ACN since the organisation was transformed in 2011 to a Papal Foundation.

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