In this interview with Regina Lynch, during her recent visit to Colombia, the CEO of ACN International talks about her beginnings at the Foundation, the impact of her visits to countries in great difficulty, the key role of the Church in the world, her vision of Latin America, and the pleasant impression that the help of benefactors in these countries has on her.
A: Starting so young in ACN, did you imagine that you would ever become CEO? What were your expectations at the time?
Q: I started working in ACN at the headquarters in Germany on September in 1980 and I have to be very honest: I didn’t joined ACN because I wanted to serve the Church, it was simply because I wanted to improve my german and I think that God has sense of humor because I found myself sitting in an office with two Americans, a French woman and a flemish speaking Belgian woman and we didn’t speak in German.
But, as I said, God has a sense of humor, He has a plan for us and it was only when I started working there that I discovered what God’s plan was for me. He wanted to show me these people, these christians who were ready to die for their faith, to suffer imprisonment and die.
I met the first witnesses of this during those years, those early years, when I traveled for the first time to Africa in 1983 and the first country that I visited was Guinea, which was under a marxist dictature. All the missionaries had been expelled, the church was left to a very small number of local priests and sisters and the head of this church, at that time, was a 36 year old archbishop Robert Sarah.
It was an extremely difficult situation and I was so impressed, amazed at his strong faith and his trust in God that this situation would improve. So for me it was a journey of discovering, a journey of faith.
A: Thank you, and speaking of your travels I want to ask: Of all of the countries you have traveled to, which one or ones gave you the most relevant experience? And if you could share a little bit with us.
Q: Yeah, so many. I’ve been very privileged to visit many countries in the world and I have to say the countries where the christians are the most persecuted are the ones that have touched me the most and from which I have learned a lot.
I think I’ve been to China, to Pakistan, to many countries of the Middle East. Also to Africa, to countries like Nigeria, which we know a lot about today. I’ve always been very impressed by the people’s faith, that no matter what has happened to them, they believe in God, they trust in God will help them but also what is very strong for me is this ability to forgive, to even sometimes love their persecutors. This is a thread that we see through all the countries where we see people suffering and despite all of this, they really do thrust in God and have a sense of forgiveness, of reconciliation with those who are persecuting them.
A: Knowing the reality of christians in so many countries as you told us, what do you think is the imprint of our Church?
Q: It’s amazing what our Church does in so many countries of the world and one of the lessons that I have learned is that the Church never abandons its people and God never abandons its people. And we saw it most recently at the beginning of the war in Ukraine. The bishops, the priests, the sisters, they stayed with their faithful, with their flocks in the east of the country, even knowing there were bombardments. I remember that during one of Iraq’s wars, when Saddam Hussein was overthrown, the only person still staying there from, let’s say foreign countries, was the Apostolic Nuncio to Iraq.
So this is what happens, the Church never abandons its faithful and it is so often in the places where the State or the government does not, it is helping the people by doing what the State should do like building schools, clinics, hospitals. The Church is always there.
A: Visiting Iraq with Pope Francis was a very pleasant experience, and an honor. How do you see this country two years after the visit? What do you think could be the real impact of the Holy Father’s message on that occasion?
Q: I mean we have to be realistic. The situation in Iraq is not easy. Is in the middle of the Middle East with Iran on one side, the conflict with Israel on the other side and so it remains a difficult situation. I have to say, really, what Pope Francis did, he brought hope to the christians there. And I think that one of the worst feelings any of us can have is feeling that we are alone. That nobody cares about us.
And I remember when the visit was announced, of Pope Francis, a lot of people were very skeptical: it was the middle of the Covid, it was a very insecure security situation in Iraq and people said: “He will never go”. But he did go, because he wanted to show them that he cared for the catholics all over the world, that he cared for them. And one of the bishops said to me, when we were there, he said to me: “You know, before Pope Francis came, the average Iraqi thought that christians are from outside of the country and that they came with the crusaders in the Middle Ages”. And it’s true that during this visit of Pope Francis there were a lot of preparations and expectations. The ordinary Iraqis realized that these christians they are iraqis. They lived in Iraq, their ancestors lived in Iraq. They didn’t think that christians have been here for two thousand years. So this really raised awareness.
He came in peace, he spoke with the muslim leaders, that was also very important. Since his visit, Christmas day has become a public holiday. And he really gave the people hope. My colleagues travel regularly to Iraq and today after this visit, so many years after this, they say that people have found hope. Despite the shaky political situation, there is a hope there that wasn’t there before.
A: Moving to our region. Based on the visits you have made to our continent, and what you know about us, what can you say about the reality of our Church in Latin America?
Q: I think that the situation in Latin America of the Catholic Church is very diverse. We have countries which have a very high percentage of catholics like Colombia. We have other countries, for example Brazil, where the number of catholics has decreased, more people are joining the sects, the evangelical sects. So it’s very diverse. We also have countries where the political situation is very very difficult, and it creates difficulties also for the Church. I think the most obvious examples are Venezuela, Cuba but also more recently Nicaragua. So it’s a shame for me when we see countries where the Catholic Church suffers in Latin America that the government’s, the states do not recognize the great contribution of the Church. As I said, you know, the schools, the clinics, the hospitals, are helping to raise the people out of poverty to give them dignity. I really wish that this would be recognized by those countries which make life very difficult for the Catholic Church.
A: From the visits you have made, what is your impression of the different offices of ACN in Latin America?
Q: We are very privileged. ACN has offices now in Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, of course, and very soon we hope also Peru. And for me it’s really amazing. ACN started helping the church in Latin America in the 60’s. It was a Church that received and then at the start of the 90’s we said: “You know, maybe some of these countries that have always been receiving can also give. Not only helping itself, helping the local church, but helping the needy church outside of Latin America. The Church where christians are persecuted”.
So we had a leap of faith and we said: “we believe it’s possible”. And the offices today, in those countries I mentioned, have shown that this was really successful. For example, in Colombia, the people here really help other poor dioceses in Colombia but they look beyond that and they help the persecuted church in Africa, in the Middle East, in Asia.
And I would just like to say thank you, because I think it’s really amazing. You know, our benefactors here are not always the wealthiest people. It’s like the story in the Bible of the widow’s mite: people who have little, give a lot. They give money, but they also give their prayers, they are praying for these churches. And really, I thank all the countries here, in Latin America, that help ACN.
A: You told us at the beginning of the interview what your expectations were when you started in ACN, what are your expectations now, under the view of being the new CEO?
Q: You know, I said to somebody that in an ideal world we wouldn’t need ACN, because there wouldn’t be persecution of christians, discrimination, there wouldn’t be a suffering church. Sadly, that’s not the case and the challenges today are as great as they ever were.
When I first started in ACN, there was the huge challenge of the persecuted church behind the “Iron Curtain” in the communist countries of Eastern Europe in the Soviet Union.
Today, we still see many authoritarian governments, we see some communist countries still, a lot less than before. The big challenge today is a radicalization of Islam, where radical muslims now make christians their targets. And we’ve seen that more and more in the Middle East countries, Pakistan, where the situation is really bad, and more and more also now in Africa, so in the west part of Africa in Nigeria, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso. Places like northern Mozambique where this was never an issue before.
So for me, the challenges are as great as ever and I think that we really have to continue doing what we do in ACN. That means raising awareness, informing people of what is going on, raising funds to help persecuted christians, where we can do that, and raising prayers.
I think it’s so important that we all pray for christians who are persecuted, that they remain stronger in their faith, and that they have the strength to resist this persecution. These are the three main objectives and if we can continue to do that I think we can continue to make a huge difference in all these countries.