ROME, DEC. 6, 2011 (Zenit.org).- The international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has been elevated by Benedict XVI to the status of a pontifical foundation.
The decision was enacted by a chirograph, an official document in Latin personally signed by the Pope.
The Holy Father named the prefect of the Congregation for the Clergy, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, the president of the foundation. He in turn nominated Baron Johannes Heereman von Zuydtwyck as executive president. The appointments took effect Dec. 1.
The official seat of the foundation is the Vatican but the international headquarters of ACN will remain in Königstein, near Frankfurt am Main, Germany. The organization also has 17 national offices in Europe, North and South America and Australia.
ACN is supported by over 600,000 friends and benefactors who finance approximately 5,000 aid projects every year in over 140 different countries. In 2010 the total amount of donations came to €85 million ($114 million).
