Ecclesiastical assistant of ACN, Fr Anton Lässer, is stepping down from his position at Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) after more than three years of service to return to the Passionist Congregation at the request of his superiors. Effective 1 October, the 65-year-old Austrian Passionist will be succeeded by Fr Friedrich Bechina, 60, also from Austria and a member of The Spiritual Family «The Work». The Ecclesiastical Assistant’s role is to foster spiritual life across all levels of ACN, provide guidance, promote ecclesial communion, and represent Church authority within the pontifical foundation.
Reflecting on his tenure, Fr Anton highlighted the profound generosity of benefactors and the pastoral care provided by the charity:
“Many of our benefactors are not wealthy themselves, and yet they faithfully contribute a small amount each month to support the work of ACN and pray for their suffering brothers and sisters in the faith. This is precisely what makes this charity so special: it is sustained by a love that is rooted in faith and expressed in action – by people who genuinely take the needs and suffering of others to heart”.
“ACN belongs to the Holy See and fulfils its mission by helping the suffering and persecuted Church to carry out her fundamental task: ultimately, to bring Christ and His salvation to people. We are called to be, and desire to remain, a pastoral charity”.
The pastoral mission of the ecclesiastical assistant of ACN
During project trips to Ukraine, Russia, and Lebanon, Fr Anton witnessed both the tragedy of war and extraordinary acts of generosity. In Ukraine, he met traumatized children using icon painting as therapy, while in Lebanon, he visited a convent of religious sisters housing 800 refugees:
“Despite getting very little sleep and giving of themselves tirelessly, they were full of ideas and showed remarkable creativity in their love for people who were exhausted and had lost their homes. You could almost see how the Holy Spirit inspired them and enabled them to go beyond what they themselves thought possible”.
“Our task is to help them draw ever more deeply from the Word of God, the Holy Eucharist and the other sources of Catholic life, so that they may live and act as true disciples of Christ”.
“ACN makes the impossible possible”: incoming assistant Fr Friedrich Bechina
Fr Friedrich Bechina joins ACN International after serving for twenty years at the Vatican in the Congregation for Catholic Education (now the Dicastery for Culture and Education). Fr Bechina was introduced to Aid to the Church in Need through his parents and grandparents, who were donors, and worked closely with the foundation on higher education scholarships while at the Holy See.
He expressed enthusiasm for shifting from strategic Vatican administration to direct pastoral impact:
“I’m coming down from the big strategies, which I still appreciate, because they are so important, but it doesn’t help if on the ground it’s not possible. Now I’m working for an organisation whose primary purpose is to make possible what seems impossible”.
“Thank you! You are the ones who make this possible. Here at the headquarters of ACN International we are listening to those in need, and in doing so we discover that the Holy Spirit has been there long before us!”
