A priest celebrates Mass in a Catholic community in a village in West Bengal, India. (Photo by Zvonimir Atletic/shutterstock.com)
By LiCAS.news
Aug 5 2021
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), an international Catholic aid organization, has approved a US$6-million aid package to help priests, religious, and catechists in more than 140 Indian dioceses, which are struggling to cope with the pandemic.
The new COVID-19 relief package covers almost 200 separate projects that will provide vital Church personnel with the essential means to continue their pastoral ministry during the pandemic.
The aid measures will also help the poorest and most needy parishes to support those who are sick with COVID-19 or suffering from its consequences.
The organization said some of the projects will benefit staff and the families of those working in institutions run by religious congregations and dioceses that have been forced to close because of the pandemic.
When India was hit by the first wave of COVID-19, between June and September 2020, Catholic communities were generally able to manage during the crisis by drawing on their slender reserves and savings. Several local congregations, however, have been left short of funds.
“The churches, schools and all our centers of training and animation are closed,” said Bishop Bhagyaiah Chinnabathini of the Diocese of Guntur, one of the most severely affected areas in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
Read the full news LiCAS.news.
