Former head of 2014 Peace Award aid organisation to visit Gozo

by Gozo News · November 18, 2016

Former head of 2014 Peace Award aid organisation is to visit Gozo after speaking at launch of ACN’s Religious Freedom report.

The 13th edition of the Religious Freedom in the World report, produced by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) will be launched in Malta on Friday, the 25th of November.

The official launch will take place in St Anthony Chapel (Russian Chapel) at San Anton Palace under the distinguished patronage of President Marie Louise Coleiro Preca. Mons. Charles Cordina, Episcopal Vicar for Diaconia, will attend on behalf of the Archbishop.

The Keynote Speaker, Syrian priest Fr Ziad Hilal SJ, is coming to Malta to speak at the launch. Fr Hilal was a former Project director in Homs from 2012 – 2015 of Jesuit Refugee Services, which was awarded the Pax Christi International Peace Award in 2014 for its emergency relief work in Syria. Fr Hilal is the current coordinator of Aid to the Church in Need’s humanitarian projects in Syria and Lebanon.

After the launch, Fr Hilal will head to Gozo where he will attend a Mass at Ta’ Pinu at 6.30pm. Everyone in Gozo is invited to attend and meet Fr Hilal.

ACN Malta is appealing to administrators of all Band Clubs, Local Councils and other public buildings in Gozo to illuminate the facade on Friday, the 25th of November between 7.00pm – 10.00 pm as a gesture of solidarity with all the Christian martyrs who died for their faith in Jesus Christ.

The biannual ACN report, which assesses the situation regarding religious freedom in each of the world’s 196 countries, draws on research by journalists, academics and clergy.

The 2016 edition warns of the global impact of “a new phenomenon of religiously-motivated violence,” particularly Islamic. Countering the popular view that governments are mostly to blame for persecution, the report puts the blame on non-state militants in 12 of the 23 worst-offending countries.

The ACN Report said that however, not all problems regarding religious freedom are to do with militant Islam. A “renewed crackdown” on religious groups was reported in China and Turkmenistan and an ongoing denial of human rights for people of faith in worst-offending countries North Korea and Eritrea. “Nor is the outlook universally bleak – looking at Bhutan, Egypt and Qatar, countries notorious for religious freedom violations,” the report found that the situation had improved for faith minorities during the period under review.

The other problem highlighted in the report is that Western policy makers frequently just disregard religion and need to rethink their whole outlook. “It’s no longer compatible to say that traditional faith practice belongs to the past when the evidence shows that for millions and millions of people – a new generation – religion is at the centre of their lives, driving everything they do.”

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.

Fr Ziad Hila, S.J.is a Syrian priest who was born on 20 June 1973. He has worked tirelessly in Syria to help his country’s most vulnerable citizens, its children, during a period of devastating war and upheaval. For six years he worked in the heart of Syria’s “Valley of the Christians” where he witnessed some of the worst horrors of the country’s civil war.

He was a former Project director of Jesuit Refugee Services in Homs from 2012 – 2015, providing humanitarian aid to displaced people by distributing food, sanitary items ad medicines and providing accommodation.

The organisation was awarded the Pax Christi International Peace Award in 2014 for its work in providing emergency relief to Syrians since the war began in 2011. Fr Hilal is now overseeing Aid to the Church in Need humanitarian projects in Syria and Lebanon.