Fr Werenfried

Fr Werenfried van Straaten is almost a legend in the Catholic Church. A Dutch Norbertine priest, he has become known and loved throughout the world thanks to his powerful message of charity and love, and its fulfilment in the work of the charity that he founded in 1947, Aid to the Church in need. Often travelling illegally, trusting entirely in prayer and love, this giant of charity organised secret help from the West to the 'Church of Silence' in Eastern Europe during the bitter years of Communist persecution. His life and work spanned one of the most desperate periods of the Church's history; a period when against- all the odds- terror and despair were overcome by faith, hope and charity. He spoke steadfastly for the forgotten and the abandoned, and for the modern martyrs of the Catholic Church. Joanna Bogle is a Catholic writer, boadcaster and journalist who knew and worked with Fr Werenfried for over 25 years. She frequently appears on the television station EWTN.