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Father Werenfried always enjoyed pointing out that his nickname has nothing to do with the size of his girth. It comes from the fact that in the early days of his campaign he appealed to the Flemish country folk for bacon for the starving Germans, rather than for money, which they had less of. Evening for evening Fr. Werenfried and his helpers returned home with eight or ten hundredweight of salted bacon and a hatful of money. Truckloads of bacon were unloaded before the astonished eyes of abbey visitors. This was the beginning of the great “Battle of Bacon”, which procured Fr. Werenfried a new name.

Did he collect only bacon? Or how did his aid campaign go on?

Father Werenfried soon perceived that the exiled Germans were suffering not only from material need and loss of their homeland, but were also in real spiritual need. At once he widened the scope of his work, beginning in 1949 with the “Vehicles for God” campaign, which sought to provide motorcycles and cars for the exiled priests and their scattered flocks. These so-called “backpack priests” were trying to minister to Catholics scattered in small villages, often covering large distances on foot. For many, the strain was too great and some died, leaving many Catholics without priests. The cars made things much easier for them.

So how did Father Werenfried get hold of these cars? He appealed to Flemish schoolchildren and youth groups to help him raise the money for 100 VW “Beetles”. In fact he was hoping to get enough for 60, but experience had taught him that it was best to ask for more, in order to get what one needed… So what happened? The young people raised enough for 140 Volkswagens, far exceeding Father Werenfried’s wildest dreams! A year later he had another idea. It happened that most of the Catholic exiles had been settled in the mainly Lutheran regions of Germany, where there were no Catholic churches. So he got hold of secondhand buses and trucks and converted them into mobile chapels, or “chapel trucks” as they were soon called. A side panel could be opened out, revealing the altar within. In this way the Church was at last able to reach those who had no churches! In all, 35 of these trucks travelled round serving the scattered Catholic flocks.

And what happened when he met little Hedwig?

The encounter with a young refugee child living in an encampment was a key moment for Father Werenfried. Giving a holy picture to little Hedwig – for this was her name – he told her to pin it on the wall. “But we have no wall, Father”, she replied. He knew then what he had to do. The family lies at the heart of society and a religious upbringing, but how was a healthy family life possible in such destitution, amid so many strangers and with no possibility of due modesty or privacy? So Father Werenfried summoned up an army of student volunteers ready to build houses for the refugee families and churches for their spiritual needs. Many others joined them and so in 1952 the International Building Companions were formed.

What’s the secret of his famous “hat of millions”?

In the course of time Father Werenfried extended his preaching appeals to many European countries, including Germany, and the Germans in particular gave with open hearts and hands in return for the generosity shown them soon after the war. During this time his “hat of millions”, a hat, which he had “borrowed” from his Norbertine abbot and somehow failed to return, became almost as famous as he did – indeed almost his trademark. With this simple black hat he begged for almost 60 years; small wonder then, that it became full of holes, for it was filled again and again to the brim, not just with money but with jewellery too and other valuables. After hearing father Werenfried speak, many couples even gave their wedding rings, and many were so moved by his words that they gave far more than they could really afford. And yet the astonishing thing was that this made them so happy, as though they had actually been given something themselves! Even car keys were dropped into this hat, while the car stood outside in the street awaiting its new owner. And father Werenfried was not in the least disturbed by the holes in his hat, for it gave him the excuse to say: “Only notes, please! No coins, or they might fall through…”

What’s the “Mirror”?

In the early 1950s father Werenfried founded the “Mirror”, a subscription newsletter for the benefactors (for so he always called them, never “donors”). In 1958 this became a newsletter and information bulletin sent free to the benefactors. This served as a new way of reaching people, alongside his sermons - of which in his best years he was giving as many as 90 in a month! Today the Mirror is published in seven languages – including, very recently, Polish – and in a total printing of 700,000 copies, eight times a year. It has become the chief source of income for ACN. But for Father Werenfried it was not about money in the first place, but rather of inspiring love in people’s hearts and inspiring them to grow and rise above their normal selves. He saw himself as ministering pastorally to these benefactors. He called ACN a “school of love”, and indeed it is not merely an aid agency but rather a community of people of good will, united not only in the desire to help the poor but also in prayer. Father Werenfried himself always prayed for the benefactors’ intentions and he also urged the benefactors to pray for the needs of ACN.

The story of Vinkt/Belgium is very famous. What happened there?

Father Werenfried knew that people are capable of acts of real heroism, so long as they understand that sacrifices are necessary for the sake of love. And so he dared to go to the people of Vinkt - a small Belgian town where in 1944 German soldiers had committed a terrible massacre, shooting the entire male population, including boys and old men - and to appeal to them for reconciliation. When the people heard that this priest was coming to ask them to help the Germans there was great indignation and only their respect for his religious habit saved him from a good beating! But Father Werenfried’s words had their effect, and right after Mass, when the church was empty, a woman came shyly up to him and pressed 1000 Francs into his hand, then disappeared without a word. But the parish priest had recognised her, and he told Father Werenfried that the Germans had shot her husband, her son and her brother. During the rest of the evening, mostly under cover of darkness, one villager after another came in with contributions to his campaign. They brought money, food and clothing, paid donations into his charity account – and even agreed to “adopt” an exiled German priest!

How and why did Father Werenfried expand his aid campaigns to Eastern Europe?

The problem of the German refugees was resolved within a few years, but anyone who thought that Father Werenfried was now going to simply hang up his hat and return to singing in the choir was sadly mistaken! On the contrary, he now expanded his charity into an “international campaign of love” and set his sights on the Church behind the Iron Curtain in Central and Eastern Europe. When the Hungarian Uprising broke out, Father Werenfried immediately travelled there with an aid convoy – a dangerous journey, since the situation was extremely volatile and he didn’t even have a valid passport, let alone a visa... But he crossed the border without incident and was one of the first to meet Cardinal Mindszenty, the Hungarian Primate, who had been imprisoned and cruelly tortured by the communists and only just been freed. Needless to say, Father Werenfried promised him every possible help. The return journey was also something of a miracle, for just five minutes after he had crossed the border with his helpers, it was closed down by the soviet troops, who then bloodily put down the uprising.

Gradually the work of ACN spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe and included every possible form of help – from aid parcels for the needy (millions of these were sent) through to construction aid for churches, convents and seminaries, support for the training of priests, printing presses for Catholic publications and aid for refugees – above all those who had fled from Hungary to the West. This included scholarships for students and especially future priests. A vast number were helped in this way.

Why the name “Aid to the Church in Need”?

In the beginning, the English name of the charity was still Iron Curtain Church Relief. While in Italy (the charity had its headquarters in Rome from 1964 to 1975) we were called Aiuto alla Chiesa Perseguitata, or "Aid to the Persecuted Church". Then one day Father Werenfried was called to the Vatican secretariat of state. A friendly Monsignor asked him to change the name of his charity, since Tito, the Yugoslav head of state, had complained about it. Tito insisted that the Church was not persecuted in his country, and that therefore it was not acceptable that an organisation with such a name should be active there, either officially or unofficially. Father Werenfried at once refused - until the Monsignor showed him a letter from Tito on which the Pope had written in his own handwriting "Ask Werenfried to change the name of his charity".

Thanks to Tito then, or rather thanks to the Holy Father, our name was changed to its present one, and thus also covers our aid campaigns for the Church in the Third World. Later the name was changed correspondingly in all the other countries too.

Can Father Werenfried be described as a pioneer of European Unity?

Father Werenfried had understood that there could never be peace and reconciliation in Europe until the hatred in men’s hearts was overcome. He was convinced that a terrible catastrophe would befall the whole of Europe if men did not succeed in bringing about reconciliation between former enemies and easing the need of the suffering people. Otto von Habsburg described Father Werenfried as the “architect of a united and Christian Europe” and Romano Prodi called him an “apostle of peace” in Europe. And the truth is that he did succeed in promoting reconciliation where this seemed all but impossible. So he has every right to be described as a pioneer of European unity.

Why his enemies called Father Werenfried the “last of the Cold War warriors”?

Father Werenfried did not hesitate to denounce the horrors of the communist regime, and he was widely criticised for this by many for whom these home truths did not fit in with their dreams of “peaceful coexistence” between the Church and communism. But father Werenfried was not fooled by the fake concessions offered from time to time by the communists in order to hoodwink the West. He knew the cruel reality all too well and he knew too that the communists would never give up their struggle against religion. He knew many bishops, priests, religious and laypeople who had endured unspeakable sufferings and who begged him repeatedly to tell the truth in the West. And he did just this, despite being derided by his enemies as the “last of the Cold War warriors”. He knew that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church, as Tertullian wrote, and so he did all he could to ensure that these people, who had been tortured and murdered for their Faith or forced to endure severe punishments and reprisals, would not also be denigrated here in the West as disturbers of the peaceful coexistence of communism and the Church. Father Werenfried never shrank from calling a spade a spade and he spoke out loudly and clearly. But he again and again emphasised that it was not his purpose to attack communism as such, but rather to support its victims. After all, he was a priest, not a politician or a political activist. And so he again and again called on others to pray for the perpetrators as well – for the members of the Politburo, for the generals and the henchmen. For indeed, the conversion of these sinners was his dearest wish.

Did Father Werenfried meet Mother Teresa?

Yes, he did, and it was Father Werenfried, incidentally, who made Mother Teresa known in Europe. He met her during one of his travels in India in 1956 and was deeply impressed by her. He visited her in the House of the Dying that she had founded in Calcutta, going with her from stretcher to stretcher and blessing one sick person after another. Indeed, a little baby whom he had just baptised died there in his arms. Since this time he was close to Mother Teresa and supported her energetically, and Mother Teresa too was impressed by Father Werenfried.

Did he know Pope John Paul II. personally?

In fact Pope John Paul II and Father Werenfried were linked by a longstanding friendship that went back to the time when Karol Wojtyla was still archbishop of Cracow. From its foundation until today, ACN has served under five different Popes, and fidelity to Rome lies at the basis of our activity. In 1984 our charity was established as a public, universal association, directly answerable to the Holy See, and thus it was accorded an official mission for the universal Church. Indeed, Father Werenfried's work has been supported, wished for and welcomed by the Popes right from the beginning, and he would of course never have thought of doing the anything that was not fully in accord with Rome.

Why did Father Werenfried found a new congregation in Africa?

In 1966, in Zaire, Father Werenfried met Mother Hadewych, a Belgian nun who had spent her entire religious life in Africa. From her he ascertained that a great many religious vocations were being lost in Africa because women who could neither read nor write were refused entry by the established religious orders. Father Werenfried immediately understood that these were precisely the women who, because of their closeness to the people, were predestined to serve their fellow Africans. They knew the customs, traditions and problems of the ordinary people, knew the forests and had many important practical skills. Such precious resources should not be lost to the Church in Africa, and so it was that Father Werenfried, together with Mother Hadewych, founded a new congregation, the "Daughters of the Resurrection", who now number over 200 religious and are active in several countries of Africa. The sisters receive a basic training in medicine and in addition to reading and writing also learn various handicrafts. This project was a complete innovation, and here too Father Werenfried lived up to his name as a "warrior for peace" - for the sisters who lived together in these convents were sometimes from different and mutually hostile ethnic groups.

Father Werenfried travelled to many countries all around the world. Wasn’t it sometimes dangerous?

Indeed it was! Needless to say, Father Werenfried also experienced numerous adventures on his many travels through the world. For example, during one journey to Africa, he was arrested on arrival at the airport by heavily armed soldiers, although he had a valid visa and an appointment with the papal nuncio. At first the soldiers tried to force him back into the aircraft, but he resisted successfully; then they kept him under arrest for hours at the airport and finally carted him off in a car to an unknown destination. It was a very dangerous situation and could easily have ended in death. But when Father Werenfried was finally locked in a hotel room, he succeeded in escaping to the nunciature. On another occasion he almost crashed in the small mission aircraft in which he was flying. There was a thick fog and the radar had broken down, and the aircraft was flying around between the mountains and could easily have crashed. At one point the aircraft passed a within just twenty yards of a sheer cliff! Father Werenfried looked death in the eyes, prayed his Rosary and promised the Mother of God to consecrate his charity to her if she would help him. And suddenly the dense cloud cover parted and the aircraft was able to reach the landing strip on the shores of Lake Kivu. There was just 10 minutes worth of fuel left in the tank!

Why did Father Werenfried want to publish a Child’s Bible?

Father Werenfried wanted even the poorest children, who could never afford a book, to have a Bible of their own so that, as he put it "the image of Christ can become a living one in their hearts". This was a very important issue for him, and today this project remains one of the most enduringly popular projects among the benefactors of ACN. In 1979, the "International Year of the Child", the ACN Child's Bible "God Speaks to His Children" was first published. Today it has been translated into 147 languages and printed in over 42 million copies.

Was Father Werenfried’s mission for Eastern Europe finished after the political changes in the former Communist countries?

No, it wasn’t. After the political changes in Eastern Europe, Father Werenfried was welcomed with great enthusiasm in many countries of the former Eastern bloc, and he was even able to appear consents and on state television in Russia and Yugoslavia, something hitherto unthinkable. Equally unthinkable was the notion that he might one day be able to publicly stand on Red Square, Moscow, the centre of world communism, during the changing of the guard before the Lenin mausoleum, and pray the Rosary unhindered - which is what he did in 1992. It still seems almost a miracle that so much was possible so suddenly! During the communist era he had visited Eastern Europe, but had risked his life in doing so and been forced to make use of disguises and a false passport... Now that communism had collapsed, it had become easier to support the penniless Church in Eastern Europe in re-establishing her pastoral and evangelising mission, and this a was a top priority for Father Werenfried. One project that was able to reach a wide public was the establishment of a Christian radio station in Moscow. Initially this was by no means so easy, for the communications ministry refused them the necessary licence. But when the Stalinist putsch began on the evening of 19 August 1991, all the radio stations in the country were in the hands of the communists. Boris Yeltsin tried to speak to the people, standing on an army tank, without even a loud-hailer, but in vain. He needed a radio transmitter... And it was thanks to the transmitter we had imported for our Christian radio programmes, smuggled into the parliament building on a lorry, that he was able to speak to the people and so bring about the collapse of the putsch! Not surprisingly, a grateful President immediately granted the broadcasting licence! And the Russian people listened enthusiastically to this new religious radio programme.

Did Fr. Werenfried want to help only Roman Catholic Christians in Russia?

Indeed, Father Werenfried was willing to go further, and did not restrict himself to helping the Catholic Church in Russia alone, but also proposed to help our Russian Orthodox sister Church. During his journey to Russia in 1992 he met with Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II of Moscow, with whom he agreed carefully targeted aid programmes for the Russian Orthodox Church. So it was, following the earlier model of the chapel trucks, two chapel boats were fitted out (a third has been added recently) and now travel up and down the Volga and Don rivers, serving the spiritual needs of Orthodox Christians in remote riverside communities where there are no churches. Father Werenfried once described it as "the last and greatest joy of his life" to be able to contribute to reconciliation between Christians in West and East. His commitment was also entirely in line with the hopes of the Holy Father.

Father Werenfried’s trust in Divine Providence became legendary. What did he experience?

Father Werenfried not only had a profound faith in the truth of the Gospel, but actually experienced it again and again as a reality. His trust in God became legendary and he never allowed himself to be governed by what could be done but rather always by what must be done, for Jesus had said "Ask, and you shall receive". He occasionally plunged his associates into fear and turmoil with his outrageous promises, for he often promised large sums of money before he even had them. But never was his trust disappointed and never did he fail to keep a single one of these promises. There are numerous wonderful stories about this.

For example, many years ago Father Hugo worked with us. He was a very meticulous man and an excellent bookkeeper. One day he said to us, "I'm leaving you!" "Why?", Father Werenfried asked in astonishment. He replied, "Because we cannot possibly keep the promises you have made for this year and you have gone too far!" Father Werenfried responded "But the year has not yet ended!" Father Hugo came back: "I have calculated everything precisely and have already assumed double the amount for December, but even then it is not enough!" He was finally persuaded to wait just a little longer to see whether things did not after all work out - Father Werenfried promised him that they would get the full amount. Then, one day, when Father Werenfried was on a speaking tour, Father Hugo phoned him up - something he normally never did. Joyfully he told him that a benefactor had given a large sum of money. Father Werenfried inquired whether the money would be sufficient, and Father Hugo replied that they would still be 40,000 dollars short, but at any rate he was now persuaded and would stay on. But Father Werenfried replied "Oh no! After all we have promised the entire sum, and so it must be the entire sum!" Shortly afterwards a parcel arrived in the post. The secretary thought it must be books. But instead the parcel contained banknotes to the value of exactly 40,000 dollars - the very sum needed to balance the budget. And so Father Hugo stayed with us until his retirement. Very often we have had similar experiences, and as for Father Werenfried, this was self-evident. He again and again emphasised that one could never go too far in trusting God. This was the most important message of his life.

What did the message of Our Lady of Fatima mean to Father Werenfried?

The message of Fatima was a thread that ran right through Father Werenfried’s life.

In 1917 the Mother of God appeared in the small Portuguese Village of Fatima on six separate occasions - each time on the 13th of the month - to three shepherd children and entrusted her message to them. She announced the approaching end of the First World War, which was still raging then, and called on mankind to pray the Rosary daily, especially for the conversion of Russia, and to turn back from the false way it had embarked on. Father Werenfried heard this message for the first time in 1942, as a young priest, and unconditionally obeyed the appeal of Our Lady: "Help me to save my children!" His mission is closely tied up with the Fatima message and especially his commitment for the triumph of the Faith over communism was motivated by his desire to follow Our Lady's appeal. The communist revolution of October 1917 and its subsequent effects were in the profoundest sense a total rebellion against God, and in Fatima Mary had shown us the remedy against this revolt.

Did Father Werenfried consider the Church in the west a “Church in need”, too?

Yes, he did, and so alongside his commitment to Eastern Europe and the Third World, Father Werenfried had not overlooked the fact that here among ourselves in the West the Church is a Church in need. The apostasy from Rome, the progressive collapse of moral values, the murder of millions of unborn human beings, the widespread disappearance of Christian education and the ever-growing religious ignorance were all seen by Father Werenfried as a grave threat to the Kingdom of God. And so he also devoted himself tirelessly to the re-evangelisation of the West and in this, although he urgently needed the contributions of his benefactors for his aid campaigns, he was more of a priest than a beggar. A particular concern of his was the Christian media.

What kind of person was Father Werenfried?

Father Werenfried was an imaginative and far-sighted man who recognised the problems and found imaginative solutions to them that were often as original and innovative as they were effective. He was at once absorbed in God and rooted in the earth and he knew and loved his fellow men. He was not afraid of human contact and approached every individual in the same direct and open-armed manner, including even those people who were distant from the Church or whose lives were not entirely on the right course. He condemned sin but not the sinner, rather he found room in his heart for everyone. It is an astonishing fact that children especially had great confidence in this large and powerful man. Perhaps because Father Werenfried himself always remained at some level a child at heart... He certainly remained youthful right up to his death and at to the age of 80 he used to say he felt "not 80 years old but four times twenty years young". He loved life and managed to combine the spiritual and the material together without dividing life in two. Indeed, he even said that the man who cannot enjoy things himself becomes unenjoyable. He had a great sense of humour and could inspire enthusiasm among others even at an advanced age, and indeed even after his death. Countless people tell that their encounter with Father Werenfried marked a turning point in their lives and changed everything for them. In this way thousands found their path to the priesthood or the religious life, while others found other ways of following Father Werenfried in his struggle for peace and his commitment for the suffering Church.