Aid to the Church in Need has a new president: Cardinal Kurt Koch

Monsignor Kurt Koch is the new president of the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Koch succeeds Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, who has been at the helm of this international organization for the past 14 years.

Koch takes on this task from the Pope with a long career behind him in the field of interreligious and ecumenical relations, a task on which the pontifical foundation bases much of its charisma. Not surprisingly, Koch became interested in ecumenism at a very young age. He studied theology in Munich (Germany) and Lucerne and was ordained a priest at the age of 32.

In 1995, he was appointed bishop of Basel by Pope John Paul II and was created cardinal in 2010 by Pope Benedict XVI, who also appointed him president of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, which would later become a dicastery under the reform brought about by the apostolic constitution Praedicate evangelium.

In expressing its gratitude to the Pope for this appointment, the pontifical foundation itself highlighted Cardinal Koch's relationship with ACN over the years, particularly with the Swiss and German offices, participating in conferences and pilgrimages, among other events.