ACN News

DRC: “What ACN offers, no other organization does”

An interview with Christine du Coudray by Maria Lozano.

On her return from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where she visited the Catholic dioceses of the Kasai region, Christine du Coudray, ACN’s section heads for this country, reported on the situation in the region and gave her impressions.

Christine du Coudray with Bishop Emery Kibal, Photographer/Author: Emeric Fohlen. Copyright Status: Copyright: Author/Aid to the Church in Need

Can you give us a description of the overall situation in the country?

This was the first time I had visited the Kasai region of this immense country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, four times the size of France in area. You’re walking on land rich in mineral wealth of every kind – diamonds, gold, minerals of all kinds, petroleum and so forth, yet the infrastructure is wrecked. This particular region, which I spent two weeks travelling, is particularly isolated, and some areas are isolated enclaves. In the country as a whole, the state of the roads, where they exist at all, is catastrophic, but I really found this particular region to be in a state of complete desolation...

Religious Persecution: “Our silence is our shame”

Interview with Mark Riedemann, 03.06.2019 UN Commemoration Religious Persecution by Maria Lozano.

On May 28, 2019 the UN General Assembly passed a resolution establishing August 22 as the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief. The proposed observance was tabled by Poland with the support the United States, Canada, Brazil, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Nigeria and Pakistan.

The pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need, serving the suffering and persecuted Christians for over 70 years, welcomes this resolution as a first step towards drawing greater attention to the as yet under recognized tragedy of religious persecution – particularly that of violence against Christians, to date the largest faith group experiencing persecution for religious belief. Maria Lozano interviewed Mark Riedemann, Aid to the Church in Need’s Director of Public Affairs and Religious Freedom.

Nigeria: “The attacks on Christians are becoming more flagrant”

by Roman Kris (youth magazine f1rstlife) Nigeria

The turmoil continues in Nigeria. Reports of the defeat of the terrorist group “Boko Haram” contradict what the priest John Bakeni experiences every day. The priest is responsible for coordinating aid for survivors of terrorist attacks and displaced persons in his native diocese of Maiduguri in northern Nigeria. The international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has been working closely together with him for many years.

Father John Bakeni - Photographer/Author: Johannes Klausa. Copyright: Aid to the Church in Need.

While the threat of terrorist attacks is omnipresent in the north, in Central Nigeria, attacks on Christian farmers by the predominantly Muslim nomads from the tribe of the Fulani are becoming ever more frequent. According to the project partners of ACN, anti-religious sentiments can also be found behind disputes over land.

Roman Kris from the youth magazine “f1rstlife” talked with John Bakeni about the current situation.

A Message from National Director Mr Bernard Toutounji 

E-Mirror4

Dear friends in Christ,

It’s been only two months since our last Mirror mailing but so much has gone on in the Church and in the world. I feel that more than ever, the mission of Aid to the Church in Need, to uphold the faith when it is so often sidelined and persecuted, is more vital than ever. Of course our prayers have gone out to our brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka, who on Easter morning were subject to bomb blasts in their own churches, killing over 250. To think, on the very day we celebrated Christ’s triumph over death, we were forced to so tearfully consider what that triumph really means. We know Christ did not guarantee his followers worldly peace, on the contrary, he warned that many of us will be hated for His sake, but it is still never easy.

We know that what he does offer to each of us, baptised into His death, is an eternal peace that brings hope amidst despair, and peace amidst conflict. As we come out of Easter, and look towards Pentecost, let’s pray that the gifts of the Holy Spirit will be renewed in us. In relation to those terrible bombings, you may have heard that we opened up a national appeal to upport the Catholic people in Sri Lanka. As you would appreciate, it’s not only about rebuilding churches  (which we will of course do), but it is about building, and rebuilding, the faith and the trust of our brothers and sisters. If you did want to support our special projects in Sri Lanka simply head to www.aidtochurch.org/srilanka. 

May the souls of those who died, and the souls of all the faithful departed, rest in peace.