Werenfried van Straaten
Werenfried van Straaten, born Philippus Johannes Hendricus van Straaten
History
Born in
Charitable work
He first rose to public attention at Christmas, 1947, when he wrote an article entitled "Peace on Earth? No Room at the Inn," in which he appealed to all faithful to help the
The response to the article of Van Straaten was unexpectedly generous, proving charity still existed and hatred was lessening towards the
This initial work led to the formation of
Werenfried van Straaten succeeded in combining charitable engagement with dedication to the proclamation of the faith. For his life's work he was honored many times by the Church and the State. He also wrote a number of books, including They Call Me The Bacon Priest (1960).
In his later years he was active in anti-abortion activism, demonstrating and speaking out against abortion in Western Europe and the United States.
He died on 31 January 2003 at Bad Soden in Germany at the age of 90 years. He is buried in the cemetery of Königstein im Taunus.
Werenfried Prize
At the 3rd International Congress Treffpunkt Weltkirche, held from 11 to 13 April 2008, in Augsburg, the Father Werenfried Prize was awarded for the first time to the Friends of the St. Clemens Church in Berlin. This prize, endowed with 1000 euros, was awarded jointly with the Katholische Sonntagszeitung. At the 5th international congress of Treffpunkt Weltkirche, held from 12 to 15 March 2015, in Würzburg, the Father Werenfried Prize was awarded to Gabriele Kuby.
Sexual Assault Allegation
In 2021 Die Zeit published an article which made known the existence of a letter from 2010 indicating that Van Straaten was accused of committing sexual assault in 1973 against a 20-year-old woman working for the charity.[2][3] In a statement consisting of questions and answers, Aid to the Church in Need responded to the disclosure and noted that "ACN deeply regrets the serious allegations and condemns any kind of behavior of which Father van Straaten has been accused in the article."[4]
Books
- They Call Me The Bacon Priest, New City Press, Belgium, 1965.
- Where God Weeps, Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 1989.
References
- ^ Obituary of Father Werenfried van Straaten, The Daily Telegraph (London, England), Feb. 1, 2003
- ^ Löbbert, Raoul; Löwisch, Georg (10 February 2021). "Pater Werenfried van Straaten: Gut und Böse". Zeit Online. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
- ^ "Aid to the Church in Need confirms 'credible' accusation of 'serious sexual assault' against founder". Catholic News Agency. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
- ^ "Questions & Answers regarding the article "Gut und Böse" in the ZEIT supplement "Christ&Welt"". acninternational.org. Aid to the Church in Need. 10 February 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2021.
External links
- Obituary of Father Werenfried van Straaten, The Daily Telegraph (London, England), Feb. 1, 2003.