The pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has announced an international emergency campaign to raise at least 1 million Euro (1.6 million AUD) to assist the Catholic Church in Lebanon, as it strives to cope with the tremendous challenges caus...
Read morePlagued for months by gangs that plunder, kidnap and terrorise the population, Haiti continues to fight every day for its survival. In the midst of this terrible situation, the Church in the country remains a beacon of hope, says Fr Baudelarie Martial, a...
Read moreBishop Tesfaselassie Medhin tells the international pontifical foundation ACN about the terrible human rights violations that occurred during the devastating war from 2020 to 2022 in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray, and particularly the sexual vio...
Read moreIn a joint statement, the Venezuelan Bishops Conference highlights the crucial role of the people in the elections scheduled for July 28th.
Read moreCardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, met with a delegation from Aid to the Church in Need on Wednesday, July 17th, and expressed his gratitude for the help received by the Holy Land.
Read moreThe Catholic Church in Belarus is highly involved in pastoral work with children and young people. Every week, hundreds of children attend catechesis, and every year numerous children receive their first Holy Communion. During the Soviet period, the pract...
Read moreHis Beatitude Ibrahim Sidrak, the Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria, heads the small Coptic Catholic Church, which has about 300,000 members. In an interview with the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), he shared his thoughts about his...
Read moreIn Batey 5, a peripheral area of the Diocese of Barahona on the border with Haiti, three missionaries, with the support of Aid to the Church in Need, help fight poverty and social exclusion in the neediest parish in one of the poorest dioceses in the Domi...
Read moreIn a message sent to ACN, Monsignor Sikuli Paluku, Bishop of Butembo-Beni, denounces the atrocities committed by the ADF this month. The bishop insists that there cannot be a separation between faith and the defense of human dignity.
Read moreIt is with great sorrow that Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has been informed of the passing of Alla Rakhi, the widow of the late Nazir Masih, who tragically was killed in the Sargodha incident. Overwhelmed by grief and depression over the death of her h...
Read moreThe international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) supports a prison ministry programme for priests and lay volunteer missionaries in the Archdiocese of Guayaquil, Ecuador, to care for and accompany both prisoners and their families, offer...
Read moreA Christian family in Pakistan suffered a violent attack at the hands of an angry mob of Muslim fanatics this past Saturday, 25 May, following a false accusation of blasphemy. The victim was was brutally beaten after a false accusation of burning pages of...
Read moreCabo Delgado was ravaged by two major militant offensives. Armed groups, allegedly linked to ISIS, targeted the town of Macomia and the villages of Cajerene and Missufine, exacerbating the region's displacement crisis. As the violence escalates, the Churc...
Read moreA young priest speaks of the challenges and joys in bringing the sacraments to the most isolated communities in the Colombian Amazon. Father Jonathas Fernandes is only 33, but he already has an impressive resume as a missionary. He was only a child, in hi...
Read moreLocal community leaders say that the attacks follow the tactics employed by armed bandits who carried out the Christmas massacres in Nigeria. Religion is a factor in a conflict that also has ethnic and economic roots.
Read moreThousands of the faithful signed a petition addressed to Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, requesting the initiation of a cause for the beatification of the 171 Catholics killed five years ago. On April 21, 2019, what began as a joyful Easter Sunday celebration i...
Read moreAs the world marks the 30th anniversary of World Sun Day on May 3rd, emphasizing the significance of renewable energy resources, Aid to the Church in Need highlights the transformative impact of solar panels in the lives of parishes, religious orders, and...
Read moreA bishop in Pakistan has expressed his disappointment with the authorities for failing to bring to justice those behind one of the country’s worst attacks against Christians – and for not doing enough to help victims.
Read moreFor a year, the “war of the generals” has been raging across an already weakened country. The population is in agony and the small Christian community is shrinking away.
Read moreSeminary looted and vandalised, as security situation worsens in Haiti
Read moreACN will be joining the day of prayer for the people of Haiti on 22 March
Read moreOn 23 February 2024, Pope Francis appointed Father Aurelio Gazzera, a long-time friend and partner of ACN, as Coadjutor Bishop of the diocese of Bangassou in the Central African Republic. The 61-year-old Italian Carmelite priest has worked for 33 years as...
Read moreMissionaries, priests, and religious sisters have been forced to flee remote towns and villages to Pemba and other large cities, which are overwhelmed with displaced people.
Read moreThe Church in Patagonia faces unique challenges, marked by vast distances, great diversity, and a lack of resources. One of the bishops overseeing the development of the Church in this expansive territory of Argentina is Mgr. Roberto Álvarez, who recently...
Read moreThe pilgrimage was instituted in 1884 by Fr. Machado, the Venezuelan priest in the Diocese of La Guaira, after returning from a trip to the famous shrine of Our Lady of Lourdes in France. Tony Pereira, a lay member of the current organizing committee, spo...
Read moreOn the first anniversary of the earthquake, a bishop in Aleppo calls for an end to sanctions and appeals to people not to forget the country
Read moreACN stands united with the Pope in urging the immediate and unconditional release of the religious sisters from the Congregation of Saint Anne and calls for an end to the violence plaguing Haiti.
Read moreDuring a visit to the headquarters of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishop Miguel Angel Nguema Bee of Ebibeyin recounted the moving story of José Si Esono, the first catechist martyred in Equatorial Guinea, whom the local Church would like to see beati...
Read moreThree weeks after extremists murdered more than 300 people, burnt down entire villages, and destroyed food supplies in coordinated attacks in Nigeria’s Plateau State, none of the perpetrators have been held accountable.
Read moreThanks to the generosity of Aid to the Church in Need’s benefactors, a growing Catholic school in Erbil was able to open a new kindergarten to accommodate the increasing number of children. Education is vital for the survival of Iraq’s long-suffering Chri...
Read moreBy evangelizing and assisting the Ticuna indigenous people, the Capuchin friars, with support from Aid to the Church in Need, are helping to preserve the Amazon rainforest.
Read moreNineteen clerics have been released and expelled from the country, joining dozens of others who faced exile in recent years. Restrictions on religious freedom persist in a nation where four out of nine dioceses now have bishops residing abroad, according...
Read moreThirteen priests and one religious brother lost their lives in 2023, with half of the deaths seemingly unrelated to persecution. While arrests increased, kidnappings of clergy decreased compared to 2022, still posing a significant concern, especially in A...
Read moreNinety-seven-year-old benefactor sells religious art to help suffering Christians
Read moreIn yet another assault by Muslim Fulani bandits on settled communities, Christians find themselves displaced and in despair due to the lack of security and government response.
Read moreRegina Lynch, the Executive President of Aid to the Church in Need, emphasises the concerning rise in religious freedom violations globally. However, she also highlights the positive response to ACN campaigns, such as Red Wednesday and One Million Childre...
Read moreTo celebrate Christmas this year, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is providing 45,000 gifts to needy children in Syria and Lebanon. In Syria, 35,000 children and in Lebanon, 10,000 children will receive Christmas presents in the form of urgently needed cl...
Read moreSupported by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the Academy of Catholic Leaders seeks to equip individuals for undertaking political responsibilities. The year 2023 has left a lasting impact on the future of Latin American politics. The electoral calendar e...
Read moreParticipants in this year’s events heard testimonies from Nigerian, Pakistani, and Middle Eastern bishops, as well as life testimonies by missionaries and victims of persecution. Thousands of people took part in #RedWeek 2023 events in several differen...
Read moreIn a discussion with the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishop Marco Antonio Cortez of the Diocese of Tacna y Moquegua, Peru, addressed projects concerning religious communities and the imperative to reach every corner of a country...
Read moreFr Ha-Jo, a German priest with over 30 years of experience in Mali, was kidnapped in Bamako on November 20, 2022. Despite being aware of the risks to his safety, he continued his work in Mali to improve the country's situation and stay with his Christian...
Read moreCiudad Chávez is a neighborhood in the Venezuelan city of Vargas, within La Guaira Diocese, located just a few kilometers from Maiquetía International Airport. Established in 2013 as part of the social program initiated by then President Hugo Chávez, the...
Read moreA decade and a half ago, Archbishop Sebastian Shaw encountered much skepticism and little interest in dialogue from Muslim leaders. After years of building trust, he asserts that Islamic leaders themselves are now taking the initiative to speak up for per...
Read moreACN has approved a new aid package for schools in Lebanon and Syria for the 2023-2024 school year, totaling 2.6 million euros. The aid program encompasses school grants for over 16,000 predominantly Christian students from impoverished backgrounds in 176...
Read moreA project supported by ACN has been yielding positive results in southwest Nigeria, where Christian and Muslim leaders collaborate to promote peace in Osun State. This Catholic-led initiative is making a significant impact in a country known for interreli...
Read moreThe abduction of priests and religious in Nigeria has become so commonplace that new cases barely register. Although most end up being released, forming a lucrative business for criminals, there have also been cases of fatalities, leaving Catholics in con...
Read moreMexico City/Königstein - Mexico is known as one of the world's most violent and perilous countries. According to a report on crime in Mexico by the National Citizen's Observatory, there were 15,560 victims of intentional homicide in the first half of 2023...
Read moreStewardship of the Australian founded Friends of the Suffering Souls (FoSS) was formally handed to the Australia New Zealand international Catholic organisation, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) this week.
Read moreAid to the Church in Need (ACN) expresses its deep concern and regret at the escalation of violence in the Holy Land, which has caused the loss of more than a thousand lives and left thousands more injured.
Read moreGovernments in the West must intervene to demand justice be done for the victims of the “worst incident of persecution against Christians” in Pakistan – according to a priest who was on the scene when the atrocity took place.
Read more“Many of our Latin American benefactors are not wealthy, but they realise there are Christians whose situation is worse than theirs”
Read moreThe money sent to Syria will help restore critical Church infrastructure and continue to provide aid to those in need.
Read moreWhat should have been a symbol of hope for Christians in Iraq turned into a moment of despair. ACN asks all its benefactors to pray for those who died or were hurt, but also for the Christian community as a whole.
Read moreThe support package for 464 families includes immediate relief items, renovation of homes and the purchase of vehicles for those whose livelihoods were destroyed in the attacks.
Read moreThe Archbishop of Imphal, in Manipur, India, says that violence is still taking place in the state and misses the lack of sufficient response from the central government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Read moreThe Auxiliary Bishop of Lviv (Lemberg), Bishop Edward Kawa, has described the drone attacks on the west Ukrainian city of Lviv, in the early hours of 19 September, as "an attack on the poorest and most needy.”
Read moreA local missionary says Christians were separated from their Muslim neighbours and slaughtered in cold blood.
Read morePatriarch Youssef Absi, of the Melkite Catholic Church, thanks ACN for the support it has given to Christians in Lebanon and Syria, but says that there will be no stability in the Middle East without justice for Palestine.
Read moreInterview with Bishop Philippe Abbo Chen, the first native head of the Apostolic Vicariate of Mongo, in eastern Chad.
Read moreWhen Basma Adwar had the privilege of meeting with the Pope last June, all she could do was thank him for the scholarship that bears his name and that, thanks to ACN, has allowed her to go to university.
Read moreThe role of angels in Christian life is at the centre of this year’s prayer campaign
Read moreThe leader of the Catholic Church in Kyrgyzstan was in Mongolia, where Pope Francis said that the littleness of the local churches is not a limitation, but a resource for the universal Church.
Read moreACN International denounces the latest attack on the Catholic Church in Nigeria, in which a seminarian was burned to death in the diocese of Kafanchan, as well as the kidnapping of another seminarian in southern Kaduna.
Read moreA total of 13 clergymen have been kidnapped in Nigeria since the beginning of 2023, fortunately, all were later released.
Read moreWhen the Little Sisters of Mary Immaculate arrived in Dómuè they were received with great celebration. After 40 years, the Church once again has female faces in this huge parish, located in northeast Mozambique.
Read moreThere were tears of sadness and fear in Pakistan on Sunday (20th August) as a crowd of 700 attended Mass outside their burnt-out church following one of the country’s worst outbreaks of persecution in a generation.
Read moreAfter 21 Christians were killed and more than 10 critically injured by Fulani militants in Plateau State, Nigeria last week, local sources said similar attacks are becoming more common, and perpetrators are rarely held to account.
Read morePrayer, processions, adoration, catechism, but also plenty of fun was the order of the day as thousands of young Christians gathered in Syria and in Lebanon, physically distant, but emotionally united to the multitude who were in Lisbon with Pope Francis.
Read moreNearly 1,000 panic-stricken Christians in Pakistan spent the night in sugar cane fields, having narrowly escaped rampaging mobs who set about targeting their homes, destroying everything down to the last lightbulb.
Read moreUp to 15 church buildings have been attacked and hundreds of Christian homes destroyed after extremists went on a rampage in Pakistan.
Read moreIn some parts of Africa, children who are born with disabilities are considered evil and often killed.
Read moreA Catholic archbishop in northeast India, who has seen his diocese at the centre of a wave of deadly attacks, has issued an urgent appeal for prayers “to transform the minds of the people who are led by hatred and religious violence.”
Read moreGeorge Akroush is the director of the Project Development Office at the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem. In an interview with ACN, he speaks about the plans for renewing pastoral work among the Christians in the Holy Land.
Read moreTens of thousands of young people took part in a variety of ACN initiatives during World Youth Day in Lisbon (WYD).
Read more“You cross the Amazon jungle, climb 5,000 metres above sea level, in the Andes Mountains, you head into the desert. You are now in what Pope Francis calls ‘the land of saints’”, says Luis Vildoso, director of projects for ACN in Peru.
Read moreThe leader of Iraq’s largest Christian community has condemned a Presidential order overturning a decree which recognises him as Patriarch, calling the move “offensive” and the climax of a campaign to seize control of the Church’s assets.
Read moreAlmost exactly nine years after hundreds of thousands of Christians were forced to flee from their homes due to the occupation of their lands by ISIS, efforts continue to rebuild lives and infrastructure.
Read moreJust over 60 young men are currently undergoing formation in the propaedeutic Abbot Kaumo seminary of Kasongo, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Read moreInterview with the new Ecclesiastical Assistant of Aid to the Church in Need.
Read moreBishop Matthew Kukah, 70, has led the Diocese of Sokoto in northern Nigeria since 2011. He is an outspoken critic of his country’s government for its failure to curb a culture of violence and protect Christians from deadly attacks.
Read moreOn July 24, His Excellency Jacques Mourad, Syriac Archbishop of Homs, in Syria, with the president & the director of ACN Italy, Sandra Sarti & Alessandro Monteduro, met with Alfredo Mantovano, Undersecretary of State to the Presidency of the Council of Mi...
Read moreMany of the Christians who lived in Sudan have fled the country or at least escaped the cities that are engulfed in violence, says a Spanish Comboni missionary who has worked for years in Sudan, in an interview with ACN.
Read moreDuring the six days of World Youth Day (WYD) in Lisbon, ACN will be carrying out a number of initiatives aimed at raising awareness of Christian persecution around the world and mobilising people to be active in defence of the suffering Church.
Read moreA bishop from western Ukraine has told ACN about his struggle to help the 400,000 war-scarred people who have flooded into his region since Russia's full-scale invasion began, in February 2022.
Read moreThe Democratic Republic of the Congo has one of the liveliest Churches in Africa, with 4,602 priests ministering in 1,500 parishes and 11,000 religious supporting their pastoral and social work.
Read moreEven leaders of the Hindu nationalist party are beginning to accuse the BJP of complicity in what has become a generalised attack on Christians. ACN continues to monitor the situation closely.
Read moreWith financial and logistical difficulties making it almost impossible for most Lebanese and Syrian Christians to go to Lisbon for WYD, local initiatives are underway to provide participants with as close an experience as possible.
Read moreHis Eminence Cardinal Louis Raphael Sako, Patriarch and the leader of the Chaldean Church, has publicly announced his decision to “withdraw from the patriarchal seat in Baghdad, and go to one of the monasteries in Iraqi Kurdistan."
Read moreThe Auxiliary Bishop of the Exarchate of Donetsk, Maksym Ryabukha SDB, travels around to visit each and every person in his war-torn diocese. He asks for prayers, especially those whom he is unable to meet in person due to occupation or kidnapping.
Read moreThis summer ACN will support almost 400 camps and gatherings. Most of this financial assistance will go to Lebanon and Syria.
Read moreRussian troops occupied the city of Kherson, in southern Ukraine, at the beginning of March 2022. Nine months later a Ukrainian counteroffensive forced the Russians to retreat from the region of Kherson in early November.
Read moreA gathering of almost two thousand young Christians in Iraq provides hope for the future and encourages the new generations to stay and invest in their country and in their community. ACN helped make this project a reality.
Read more8 July will see the consecration of the Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin, in the city of Maroua, northern Cameroon. This step will conclude the nine-year construction project in the heart of the Maroua-Mokolo Diocese.
Read moreInternational foundation ACN calls for prayers on the occasion of the episcopal ordination, on 29 June, Feast of Sts Peter and Paul, of Mgr. Celso Ba Shwe as bishop of Loikaw, capital of the state of Kayah, in Myanmar.
Read moreDespite the extreme poverty of its population, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is one of the main suppliers of rare minerals in the world. The Church is committed to ensuring that miners are treated more fairly.
Read moreLocal Church sources have little doubt that the clashes that have pitched Hindus against Christians in the state of Manipur are part of a wider agenda to encourage the Hindu base to vote for the ruling BJP party in upcoming elections.
Read moreIn an uncompromising statement, the bishops of the ecclesiastical province of Bukavu, in the far east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), denounce the failure of the government to face up to the challenges with which it is confronted.
Read moreIn a video, the former governor of Kaduna state admits that his party benefits Muslim communities and does not need the Christian vote. Angered by this stance, Catholic priests have demanded that the current governor distance himself from his predecessor.
Read moreOne year after the attack on St. Francis Xavier church in Ondo, Nigeria, none of the culprits have been brought to justice. Victims wear their scars as “badges of honour” and their faith is as strong as ever.
Read moreAn Indian bishop has issued an impassioned plea for the resumption of talks between the government and rebel forces aimed at ending a conflict that has cost hundreds of lives and displaced tens of thousands of people.
Read moreACN had a stand at the latest meeting of the Bishops’ Conference of Brazil, the largest Catholic country in the world.
Read moreThe attack, which left five other children and one adult wounded, took place on 16 May in a Catholic school in Sangota, in the Diocese of Islamabad-Rawalpindi, in north-eastern Pakistan.
Read moreA Catholic Archbishop who needs guard dogs in the house, and an armed escort when he travels, speaks of the difficulties of carrying out his mission in his diocese.
Read moreAt least 500 people have died and thousands have fled, seeking safety in other countries, including Ethiopia, Egypt, Chad, and South Sudan.
Read moreEgyptian martyrs remembered by both Orthodox and Catholics.
Read more“I came back happy”, says Barbara Rettig, ACN's head of projects for part of India, as she returned from a trip to West Bengal. “I saw a joyful and hopeful Church... Over there, I felt that faith is joy. People go to Mass. Churches are full.”
Read moreBishop Kyrillos William Samaan was a good friend of ACN and a frequent guest of the international and national offices. He never ceased to intercede for Christians in need, and will no doubt continue to do so.
Read moreWith inter-religious conflicts in Manipur recently killing over 50 people, an Indian bishop says that the Church is concerned at growing radicalism.
Read moreEvery day hundreds of people arrive at Necoclí beach, in the Colombian Caribbean.
Read moreSister Gianna has a smile on her face as she speaks about her mission in Kambia, a place with no electricity, or any other basic services.
Read morePriests in war-torn Sudan are remaining to tend to their flocks despite the conflict escalating across Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, and throughout the Darfur region.
Read moreACN supports the formation of seminarians all over the world. In Lebanon this is about more than just preparing men to be good priests; it has to do with guaranteeing a peaceful future for the country, and a stable environment for Christians to thrive.
Read moreIn the extreme conditions of the Congolese prison system, a priest is struggling to protect inmates from hunger and despair. ACN reports from the central prison in Bukavu on the work of the Church among these otherwise abandoned people.
Read moreChurches have to be guarded so that Christians can pray in safety.
Read moreNominally, the vast majority of Icelanders belong to the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland.
Read moreEphrem Maalouli & Archbishop Boutros Kassis, who lead the Greek Orthodox and Syriac Orthodox communities in Aleppo, insist that Christians live in hope & continue to feel the presence of their two predecessors who were abducted by Islamist militants.
Read moreOn Saturday fighting broke out between the Sudanese army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a legalised paramilitary group.
Read more“Venezuela has become a country of contradictions. Despite the economic and social crisis, there have been recent openings of casinos and luxury car dealerships”, says Luis Vildoso, head of projects for Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), in the country.
Read moreThe Head of the Justice Commission sees little progress in religious freedom.
Read moreThe latest case of violence carried out against mostly Christian farmers in central Nigeria left at least 35 dead in Africa's most populous country.
Read moreAttacks on churches, schools, and cemeteries are worrying the Christians of the Holy Land.
Read moreHow the Church is helping to re-integrate those imprisoned for genocide against the Tutsis.
Read more“Papua New Guinea is a distant and mostly forgotten country”, Father Martín Prado, from Argentina, told ACN during a recent visit to the foundation’s headquarters in Germany.
Read moreTwenty years after the fall of the regime led by Saddam Hussein, Christians in Iraq continue to fight for the right to be treated as equal citizens and to live their faith free from persecution. Pope Francis’ visit was a landmark of hope in this pursuit.
Read moreBola Ahmed Tinubu comes from a region famous for interreligious harmony and is married to a practicing Christian. Christians hope he will be an improvement on President Buhari, who has been accused of being soft on radical Islam and Fulani violence.
Read moreTwo priests were abducted in recent weeks in Haiti, a country in the midst of a deep crisis. While one of them managed to escape after several days in the hands of his kidnappers, the other was released on 23 March.
Read moreA moving tribute to Father Imad Daher, who died in the 6 February earthquake in Aleppo, Syria, written by a childhood friend.
Read more“We ask our leaders: Why do you allow your citizens to be killed?”
Read moreThe Holy Father met this past Wednesday with two young Nigerian Christians victims of jihadist persecution.
Read moreChurches in Syria are pressing ahead with projects to repair homes hit by last month’s devastating earthquakes that affected southern Turkey and northern Syria, claiming the lives of more than 50,000 people.
Read moreAt around midnight on Saturday, 4 March, eight masked and armed men arrived at the chapel of Our Lady of Rays, in the village of California, Araucanía, central Chile, and set it alight.
Read more“As long as we can get on our knees and raise our hands in prayer to God, we shall not be paralysed by fear.”
Read moreThree weeks after the earthquake there are still dozens of people sheltering in churches and Church-run schools in Aleppo.
Read moreOn the occasion of International Women’s Day, on 8 March, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has invited two Nigerian Christians to visit Italy.
Read moreFate of Nigeria’s Christians tops agenda of International Religious Freedom summit.
Read moreFor years ACN has been highlighting the suffering of women, teenagers and young adults subjected to abduction and forced conversion. Many cases go unknown, but shocking testimonies like the story of Kinza Sindhu (14) show the urgency of this topic.
Read moreAs Africa’s most populous country continues to face a number of challenges and threats, ACN will be dedicating its Lent campaign to Nigeria.
Read more“We are well, thank God, all well. It was frightening, very strong. There is much fear, that is the general feeling, in some cases even panic. And there is good reason to be afraid.”
Read moreThe pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) calls for prayers for the Church in Nicaragua and for the Nicaraguan bishop who was convicted of treason on 10 February.
Read moreProtestors firebombed several banks in the Christian quarter of Badaro, a suburb of Beirut, on Thursday 16 February. The unrest occurred after 10 days of strike during which the banks refused to open their doors.
Read moreAid to the Church in Need benefactors contributed nearly 15 million AUD over 290 different projects all over Ukraine. A large part of this aid supports those who are dedicated to working with the most needy, thereby benefitting countless others.
Read moreCardinal Beniamino Stella, Pope Francis’ envoy to the 25th anniversary celebration of Pope John Paul II’s visit to Cuba, has asked the regime to free activists who were detained in anti-government protests in July 2021.
Read moreFollowing the devastating earthquakes on 6 February, ACN has reached out to our project partners in Syria. Here's what they have to say.
Read moreAs the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine completes its first year, two major figures in the country’s Catholic Church speak about how the war has affected the country and the Church, and their hopes for a post-war Ukraine.
Read moreDuring a visit to the regions affected by the earthquake, the Apostolic Nuncio to Syria says that he saw “a sea of pain”.
Read moreShocked and with their houses destroyed or damaged, many families have taken to sleeping in churches, convents, or even hospitals. Faced with yet another tragedy, Syrians ask for an end to sanctions.
Read moreSister Beta Almendra, a Portuguese Comboni missionary in Wau, South Sudan, can hardly hide her excitement at the visit of Pope Francis, which began on Friday, 3 February.
Read moreAid to the Church in Need has just completed its 14th session of The Night of Witnesses, a series of prayer vigils organised in five French towns to pay tribute to all the priests and religious killed during the year because of their faith.
Read moreOn 31 January Pope Francis landed in Kinshasa for a short visit to the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He departed for Juba, South Sudan, on 3 February, and then back to Rome on 5 February.
Read moreFr Isaac Azekpili Achi was brutally murdered on January 15, when his home in Kafin Koro was attacked by unidentified armed men. After forcing their way into the residence, the criminals shot Fr Isaac and wounded his colleague, Fr Collins.
Read moreACN had recently cooperated with the parish in which church warden Diego Valencia was murdered
Read moreOnly days after a terrorist attack on a Protestant church in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Marcelo Oliveira, a Combonian who works as a missionary in the African country, denounced the silence of the international community.
Read more“We must have faith to rebuild the village, and you are a sign of that faith”, Archbishop Thabet told dozens of Dominican sisters gathered for the inauguration of their new Convent of Saint Joseph.
Read moreFr Isaac Achi was reportedly burned by unknown gunmen, and his assistant Fr Colins Omeh sustained gunshot wounds. Reports also emerged of the kidnapping of another priest in Southern Nigeria this Sunday.
Read moreJacques Mourad lived as a prisoner of the Islamic State for five months before managing to escape to freedom. Now he has been appointed Syriac Catholic Archbishop of Homs.
Read moreThe new Sateré language edition of ACN’s Child Bible is more than an instrument for deepening the faith, it also helps preserve the indigenous people’s language and culture.
Read moreBurkina Faso has seen an unprecedented increase in terrorism since 2015 and on 2 January a priest was murdered in the northwest of the country.
Read moreDuring his traditional speech to diplomats, Pope Francis warned of increasing intolerance towards Christians even in countries where they are not a minority.
Read moreA recent attack on two Christian villages in northern Mozambique left two people dead and four injured and caused unrest among the local population, with many people leaving their homes in search of safety.
Read moreMay he rest in peace!
Read moreAt least 12 priests and five religious sisters were murdered during 2022. Nigeria was one of the most dangerous countries in which to serve the Church, but China, in Asia, and Nicaragua, in Latin America, also had many cases of harassment.
Read moreOn 1 January, World Day of Prayer for Peace, the bishop brings together leaders to call for an end to the conflict.
Read moreTeachers in Lebanon recognise that education is not a job, but a mission. But this mission is getting more and more difficult to achieve as the country continues in its downward spiral of economic crisis.
Read moreMary, Mother of Reconciliation, is a model for Syrian Christians.
Read moreThe bishops of Sri Lanka have asked the faithful to avoid lavish celebrations this Christmas, as the country faces an uphill struggle after mismanagement led to economic disaster.
Read moreMore than 30 organizations, including the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan, supported by ACN, have urged the government to assess data on incidents of forced conversion and present it to Parliament.
Read moreFaced with the dramatic situation in Lebanon and Syria, the international foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has launched a Christmas campaign for emergency assistance to support Christian communities in these two countries.
Read moreThe Christians of the Holy Land are preparing to celebrate Christmas, more than 2000 years after the birth of Christ.
Read moreOne of the many projects ACN funds in Lebanon.
Read moreMeditation by Sr Noha from the Borj-Hammoud Nabaa clinic in Lebanon.
Read moreFather Youssef Nasr (President of the Secretariat for Catholic schools in Lebanon) recently spoke with ACN about the challenges facing the schools as the country’s severe economic crisis persists.
Read moreThe Apostolic Nuncio to Australia, Archbishop Charles Balvo, has sent a message of support for the Red Wednesday initiative, organised by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) to call attention to victims of religious persecution.
Read moreFor many Lebanese Christian students, the University Pastoral service is a lifeline that keeps them in the country, when everything around them seems to give them reasons to give up.
Read moreAustralia’s capital has joined a select list of cities that have hosted Night of the Witnesses, an Aid to the Church in Need initiative that honours Christianity’s modern-day martyrs and those persecuted because of their faith.
Read moreGrowing insecurity risks dividing the country, say the Church leaders, pointing to multiple regions where violence has flared and also taking aim at multinational corporations that pillage natural resources.
Read moreThe terrorist organisation took her father’s life and tried to crush her soul, but with the help of ACN through a Trauma Center in Maiduguri she is back on her feet and even found the strength to forgive those who caused her so much pain.
Read moreBefore the war, Syria had a vibrant and stable Christian community, but 12 years of conflict and economic crisis forced many to flee.
Read moreThe announcement that the Holy Father is considering a visit to South Sudan, to take place in February next year, was received “with much joy” by the local Catholic community, says sister Beta Almendra, a missionary in Wau.
Read moreSeveral weeks after the second military coup took place in Ouagadougou on 30 September, the people continue to be sceptical about the country’s future, particularly with respect to Christians, a group that is greatly at risk.
Read moreDuring a recent visit to the headquarters of ACN, in Germany, Melkite Archbishop Georges Masri, of Aleppo, described the serious crisis that is affecting both the population’s health and the Church’s pastoral work.
Read moreCardinal Sandri: “What was a dream is now a reality!”
Read moreThe Bishop of Mamfe has expressed his gratitude for the release of the priests, laypeople, and a religious sister, but has repeated his condemnation of the attack on the church in which they were taken by rebels.
Read moreTwo months ago, Maryamu Joseph (16) escaped from Boko Haram after being held for nine years.
Read more“One million children praying the Rosary” will take place on 18 October. Pope Francis asks that participants especially remember Ukraine, and all other countries that suffer from war and misery.
Read moreBishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe, of the Diocese of Makurdi, spoke at an event in the European Parliament saying that Christians in Nigeria need help, “before it becomes too late”.
Read more“The Church has become a victim of the violence”, says Sister Marcela Catozza, a missionary in Haiti. The Italian nun claims that the situation has taken a turn for the worse since June, with churches and institutions coming under attack.
Read moreFor many Christians in Lebanon technical schools provide opportunities for future employment and a stable environment for local families.
Read moreBishop Samson Shukardin of Hyderabad cannot shake the images from his visit to the flood-affected Catholic village of Mariamnagar, in southern Sindh province.
Read moreWith a long experience of persecution, the Christians of Baghdeda (Qaraqosh) know that the bad times might return, but they believe that “a Church that is not persecuted is a Church that does not carry Christ”.
Read moreOn September 30, the Church celebrates the memory of Saint Jerome, a doctor of the Church who translated the Bible into Latin.
Read moreIn the wake of the murder of an Italian nun, the Bishop of Pemba, where the Islamist insurgency began, says that poverty and corruption are at the root of the problem.
Read moreThe Bishop of Mamfe asks for prayers for the release of nine kidnapped religious and laypeople.
Read morePakistanis are grateful for Church help as the worst flooding in 30 years leaves many citizens with nothing.
Read morePatriarch Bechara Boutros Rai compared Lebanon to a sick person who refuses treatment and so continues to get worse. Action is required, he claims, if the country is to continue to fulfil its prophetic role in the Middle East.
Read moreThursday 15 September, Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, will mark the end of the “Console your People” initiative, to beg for peace in Syria and for the protection of all Christians in that country, which was promoted by ACN.
Read more“How can we keep the spirit of Assisi alive?” asks Almaty bishop.
Read moreWith over a thousand dead, and many more in great need, the Church has mobilised to help victims of flooding in Pakistan.
Read moreOn the night of Tuesday 6 September an Italian religious sister, aged 83, was brutally murdered in an armed attack on the Chipene mission in the diocese of Nacala.
Read morePakistan flood victims are to receive help from ACN in response to dire calls for emergency support.
Read moreMore than 1,700 young people from all corners of Iraq are converging for the largest Christian youth festival of its kind to be held in the country.
Read moreThe international ecclesiastical assistant of ACN talks about the focus areas of the charity.
Read moreDuring a visit to the international headquarters of ACN, in Germany, Father Honoré Quedraogo, a priest from the diocese of Tenkodogo, in east-central Burkina Faso, spoke of the situation his country is currently facing.
Read moreIn light of the situation facing the Church in Nicaragua ACN wishes to express its fraternity, friendship and communion in regard to the sad and painful situation suffered by the clergy and the whole Church in Nicaragua.
Read moreDuring a visit to the headquarters of pontifical charity ACN, Bishop Martin Mtumbuka, of the Diocese of Karonga, in Malawi, highlights the vibrancy of the African Church, and speaks about both the success stories and the struggles of the young diocese.
Read more22 August - International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief.
Read moreJules Boutros is the youngest bishop in the world.
Read more22nd August - International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief.
Read moreBishop George died aged 66, of illness, on 8 July, and was buried on 4 August.
Read moreWith violent actions now taking place in and around Abuja, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama assesses the situation as very serious and accuses politicians of being distant from the people.
Read moreOn the morning of June 19, dozens of armed members of the Fulani tribe descended on two churches in Rubuh, Kajuru Local Government Area, in southern Kaduna State.
Read moreBishop Oliver Doeme’s diocese suffered the worst of the terrorism inflicted by Boko Haram, yet he says that now this part of the country can be considered peaceful in comparison to the rest.
Read moreThe sixth anniversary of the murder of the French priest at the hand of jihadists.
Read moreOver 90% of the villages in the Diocese of Fada N’Gourma are no longer covered by pastoral support.
Read moreFather Mark Cheitnum was deeply engaged in giving a voice to the innocent victims of violence in his diocese. He is the fourth priest to be murdered in Nigeria in 2022.
Read moreAid to the Church in a Need “has been a source of light in a valley of darkness”, says Bishop Wilfred Anagbe.
Read moreThe pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has announced a special aid package for priests and religious in Sri Lanka who are suffering the effects of a very serious economic and social crisis.
Read moreDuring a recent visit to the headquarters of the international charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Cardinal Désiré Tsarahazana, Archbishop of Toamasina, Madagascar, insisted on the need to hold on to hope, so as to overcome evil.
Read moreThe issue of kidnappings and forced conversions of minors belonging to the Christian community and other religious minorities in Pakistan, is a serious problem that the world cannot ignore, says Archbishop Sebastian Shaw, of Lahore.
Read moreIt has been one year since the historic peaceful protests in Cuba, which took place on 11 July, mobilising millions of people all across the Caribbean nation.
Read moreFacing a wave of kidnappings, murders, and violence, Nigerian priests shun violence as an answer and call on prayer.
Read moreIn the first such incident in the country’s history, several images were destroyed in a church that had recently been rebuilt with the help of ACN.
Read moreAn Archbishop and Sister from the Middle East issued a stark warning to UK Parliamentarians that Christians in the region are still suffering persecution.
Read moreA Nigerian Bishop in mourning travelled to the United States crying out for justice for his country’s persecuted Christians.
Read moreThe pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) denounces yet another terrorist attack in Burkina Faso. During the night of 3 to 4 July, more than 20 Burkinabè were killed during an attack in Bourasso, in the Diocese of Nouna (north-west).
Read moreAid to the Church in Need farewells a dear friend.
Read moreWhen young people tell him that they want to leave Lebanon, bishop Jules Boutros tries to remind them that money, safety and education may be important, but only Jesus Christ is indispensable, and that they are needed back home.
Read moreThe most recent kidnappings come a week after the murder of two priests in this African country that has been rocked by criminality.
Read moreThe Catholic Church in Nicaragua has suffered over 190 attacks and desecrations in less than four years, as well as persecution of clergy by the regime of president Daniel Ortega, according to a research paper that was sent to ACN.
Read moreFr Vitus Borogo and Fr Christopher Odia were murdered in apparent botched kidnapping attempts. Nigeria continues to be beset by criminality, and many priests have been targeted by bandits.
Read moreSolomon Hasdak was shocked to see hundreds of people trying to cram inside the small chapel of the village where he grew up.
Read moreTheir death raises the number of murdered priests in the past three years to seven.
Read moreAs thousands gather in Rome for the World Meeting of Families, ACN takes stock of some of the work it has been doing in the field of promoting and safeguarding family life, in different parts of the world.
Read moreWith the newly installed bishop of Pemba asking the world not to forget about the situation which has left over four thousand dead and 800 thousand people displaced, ACN has committed to a new emergency support package for IDPs.
Read moreOn 24 June ACN celebrated Benefactors’ Day.
Read more“Postponed, not cancelled, that’s the key word,” says Maxime François-Marsal, head of projects for the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Read moreThe stories behind the numbers.
Read more22 new projects have been approved for funding in Syria, a country that remains very close to the heart of the Catholic Church, as has been repeatedly expressed by Pope Francis, but where Christians are finding it increasingly difficult to survive.
Read moreFather Andrew Adeniyi Abayomi is the associate pastor at St Francis Xavier church in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria, which was hit by a terror attack during Mass on Pentecost Sunday, June 5.
Read moreThere is still no information on the culprits for the killing of dozens of people who were attending Mass on Pentecost Sunday in Owo, in the Diocese of Ondo in Nigeria.
Read moreACN is deeply shocked by the horrific attack which took place at the St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in southwest Nigeria during Pentecost Sunday celebrations which caused the death of many people, including children.
Read moreArchbishop Matthew Man-Oso Ndagoso, of the Diocese of Kaduna, complains that there is no religious freedom in the north of the country, but dismisses the idea that the conflict between Fulani herdsmen and farmers is a religious issue.
Read moreThe difficulties in Syria and Lebanon have led to an increase in situations of abuse of children and women, but are also opening up opportunities for women to take the lead in their families and communities.
Read moreMany members of the clergy in Nicaragua have suffered for their opposition to the Government and its policies. In March, President Daniel Ortega expelled the ambassador of the Holy See.
Read moreAn analysis by ACN International, 15 years after the Aparecida Document.
Read moreIt has been fifteen years since Pope Benedict XVI instituted the World Day of Prayer for the Church in China, which is celebrated on May 24, the feast of Mary Help of Christians, patron saint of the country.
Read moreEpisodes of anti-Christian violence erupted in Sokoto, Nigeria, over the weekend, following the horrific murder of a young Christian student accused of blasphemy.
Read moreIsraeli security forces are accused of having disrupted the funeral procession of Shereen Abu Aqleh, who was killed while covering an Israeli military operation in the Jenin refugee camp on 11 May.
Read morePope Francis will be in the Democratic Republic of Congo this year, between 2-5 July. During a visit to the international headquarters of ACN, in Germany, Bishop Timothée Bodika Manyisai, of Kikwit, in midwestern DR Congo, spoke about how Catholics are pr...
Read moreACN is deeply troubled by the terrible murder of Deborah Yakubu, a Christian student who was stoned and then burned at the Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, northern Nigeria.
Read moreIn one month alone three Catholic priests were kidnapped in Nigeria, two have since been released, but the death of the third has just been confirmed.
Read moreOn May 15, 2022, Lebanon will go to the polls to elect a new Parliament.
Read moreAfter years of helping rebuild homes and infrastructure, ACN is issuing an urgent call to the international community to help guarantee peace and stability in Iraq.
Read moreA Combonian missionary nun living in Wau, South Sudan, believes the upcoming visit by Pope Francis to the youngest country in the world, scheduled for 5-7 July, could have a historic effect on the peace process.
Read moreA wave of unrest and kidnappings is causing a breakdown of national life in Haiti according to Mons Launay Saturné, Archbishop of Cap-Haïtien.
Read moreIn July 2013, Shagufta and Shafqat Emmanuel, a Catholic couple in Mian Channu, a small town 155 miles south of Lahore, Pakistan, were arrested on false charges of blasphemy.
Read moreIRAQ’S Christians will pass a momentous milestone on the way toward recovery from genocide by a community of Sisters officially opening their long-awaited school.
Read moreLebanon is a unique country in the Middle East because it is based on a civil constitution, where freedom of conscience and expression are respected.
Read moreThe Holy Father has asked the authorities of Sri Lanka for the truth about the Easter Sunday bombings of 2019.
Read moreOne Christian community in Iraq had added cause for rejoicing this Easter when their church opened for services for the first time since the building was desecrated by Daesh (ISIS) militants nearly eight years ago.
Read moreAfter three years and at a cost of 2.5 million dollars, the government of Sri Lanka published an 88-volume report on the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings.
Read moreAs the military invasion of Ukraine has reached its 46th day, the Pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has begun the second phase of its emergency aid package to the country.
Read moreBurundi, one of the smallest countries in Africa, has been going through a social and political crisis that erupted in 2015.
Read moreThe Patriarch of the largest Christian Church in Lebanon expresses his most heartfelt gratitude to all the benefactors who make the work of ACN in this country possible.
Read moreOn 25 March, in the Cathedral of Rumbek, South Sudan, Italian missionary Christian Carlassare was ordained bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Rumbek, a position that had been vacant for 10 years.
Read moreTowards the end of 2021, the Nigerian government announced that members of the terrorist organisation Boko Haram were being disarmed and reintegrated into society.
Read moreRegina Lynch recently returned from Damascus, where she represented ACN at a conference of the Catholic Church together with aid agencies serving the people of Syria.
Read moreCardinal Malcolm Ranjith says the Church waits for answers as the victims continue to carry the scars of the Easter Sunday bombings that killed 269 people in Sri Lanka and injured more than 400 in 2019.
Read moreAlbania’s Communist regime tried to stamp out religion completely. Decades later, the country continues to suffer from the mass emigration of its younger citizens, due to a lack of opportunities.
Read moreAid to the Church in Need (ACN) has announced the launching of a large-scale campaign for Catholic schools in Lebanon, to help offset the great economic crisis that has been bleeding the country’s social institutions dry.
Read moreThe scholarships will allow the Catholic University in Erbil to enrol more than four times as many Christian students as it has already.
Read moreInterview with Msgr. Giuseppe Pasotto, a Stigmatine father from Italy, who has been watching over and helping to shape the fortunes of the small Roman Catholic Church in the Caucasus since the fall of the Iron Curtain, first as a missionary, then, since 1...
Read moreDespite difficulties and hardship, the Church promises not to abandon its faithful, whatever might happen, just as it stayed with them in Crimea and in Eastern Ukraine.
Read moreThe Bishops’ Conference of Haiti has released a statement calling on political actors and armed gangs to prevent the country from falling into chaos.
Read moreOut of necessity, Viktor breaks up his floor. Now that he and his wife have no steady work, due to the war in Ukraine, he and his sons Wasiliej and Kola proceed to saw the planks into pieces for the stove to heat the house.
Read moreThousands of people took part, either in person or virtually, in the Night of Witness, a series of events on the theme of persecuted Christians organised by the international Catholic pastoral charity and pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (A...
Read moreTributes have been paid to a Christian minister who was killed Sunday 30th January in Pakistan after dedicating his life to persecuted and other suffering Christians.
Read moreThe conflict-torn north, where hundreds of thousands of people are living in makeshift camps, is one of the areas that is being hit the hardest.
Read moreNohada lives alone in her one-room home in Addousiyyeh, in Lebanon, near the Mediterranean coast. A widow, her only son moved abroad years ago and she survives largely with the help of her neighbour Mariam, who happens to be the only Muslim in the village...
Read moreThe life of Christians on Iraq’s Nineveh Plains remains precarious, even though much progress has been made in the wake of the ouster of ISIS from the region and the restoration and rebuilding of Christian homes as well as churches and church properties.
Read moreThe Psychiatric Hospital of the Cross is a Catholic non-profit facility in Beirut that the economic crisis has brought to the verge of collapse.
Read moreThe crucifix in Pemba diocese before which the refugees from the violence pray.
Read moreCo-author of ACN case study describes an increase in the number of attacks.
Read moreThe number of Catholics in the country is very small (one percent), but the bishops of Kazakhstan addressed various messages to the people so that - with the help of God – the current difficulties will be resolved and peace and harmony return to the count...
Read moreIn an interview with the Colombian branch of the Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need, Sister Gloria Cecilia Narváez, released last October in Mali, spoke about her missionary work, her captivity and her appeal to be a living witness. Here is a...
Read moreFor Aid to the Church in Need, two sentiments predominate as ACN looks back on the past year.
Read more"Christians suffered 305 incidents of violence in the past nine months this year," said a fact-finding report released Oct. 21 in New Delhi.
Read moreBishops in Jerusalem have warned that the existence of Christianity in the Holy Land is threatened by “a systematic attempt” to drive the community out.
Read moreFollowing a mob attack by right-wing extremists on a Catholic school, a leading cleric has said that Indian Christians will never be safe under Prime Minister Modi’s government.
Read moreThe persecution of Christians by Muslim extremists in West Africa was discussed at a two-day conference in Burkina Faso recently. Nigerian Bishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe, of the diocese of Makurdi, called for dialogue with Muslims and the establishment of a...
Read moreSurvivors of persecution supported by a leading Catholic charity met HRH The Prince of Wales at an Advent service in central London dedicated to those who suffer for their Christian faith.
Read moreHardly noticed by the world, the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan escalated into war in Nagorno-Karabakh on 27 September 2020.
Read moreLiberal Muslims and Christian activists have been expressing concern over Prime Minister Imran Khan's announcement of the establishment of a new body called the Rehmatul-lil-Alameen (‘Mercy for all the Worlds’—a phrase from the Koran) Authority (RAA).
Read moreInspired by the One Million Children Praying the Rosary campaign, a prayer group of ACN benefactors made and donated thousands of colourful decade rosaries for ACN staff to take as small gifts to children on their project visits.
Read moreSouth Sudan is one of the poorest countries in the world. Two-thirds of its population are dependent on humanitarian aid.
Read moreThe Apostolic Vicariate of Northern Arabia which covers Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia has an estimated 2.5 million Catholics who are mostly migrant workers from different nations and diverse cultures.
Read moreMarco Mencaglia has been head of the section for Georgia for the past one-and-a-half years for Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
Read moreA bomb attack on the home of a Catholic shopkeeper in southern Iraq has been condemned by the head of the country’s largest Church, who has said that such attacks have driven an exodus of Christians.
Read more"Children are now playing more, running more, jumping more... "
Read moreThe security situation in Mali has continued to deteriorate in the last few months. The increased violence is affecting above all the country people, given that the Jihadists are preventing the farmers from harvesting their rice fields, burning the fields...
Read moreKidnappings are a hallmark of terrorist organizations in Nigeria, including Boko Haram and Islamic State-West Africa Province, and clergy are increasingly being targeted.
Read moreA NEW REPORT RELEASED IN LATE OCTOBER, compiled by various Christian NGOs and titled “Christians Under Attack in India,” records 300 anti-Christian incidents so far in 2021. In one case, two Catholic nuns were forcibly marched to a police station by a mob...
Read moreGirls and women from religious minorities continue to be victims of forced conversion and marriage in Pakistan, with a significant number of cases occurring every year.
Read moreA large proportion will go to projects related to construction and restoration, or education and religious formation, with much support also for rent and basic food and medical assistance. Without programmes such as these, there is a serious risk of Chris...
Read moreBesides rising Islamic fundamentalism and intolerance, Christians in this Asian country have also had to deal with endemic intolerance and were disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Read moreThere is increasing aggression based on persecution and the lack of religious freedom
Read moreAccording to reports received by Aid to the Church in Need, security in northern Burkina Faso has drastically deteriorated in recent months.
Read moreMore than a quarter-century may have passed since the Dayton Agreement came into force, but coexistence in Bosnia Herzegovina remains riddled with conflict.
Read moreA Catholic missionary has sent out a plea for peace from war-torn Ethiopia.
Read moreON THE EVE OF INDIAN PRIME MINISTER NARENDRA MODI MEETING WITH POPE FRANCIS at the Vatican, a report entitled “Christians Under Attack in India,” compiled by various Christian NGOs, records 300 anti-Christian incidents so far in 2021.
Read moreMichael Suleiman is a Maronite Catholic politician who was President of Lebanon between 2008 and 2014, following a decade as commander of the country’s Armed Forces.
Read moreThe Church accompanies the people as they suffer from a terrible social, economic and political crisis.
Read moreMany Pakistanis celebrated the end of the United States military presence in Afghanistan, but others warn of increasing home-grown Islamist violence and extremism.
Read moreAmid a spiralling economic crisis and an upsurge in violence, a Middle Eastern Patriarch says that if the West fails to help the Christians in Lebanon the community could soon be extinct.
Read more“Hearts filled with joy” is a phrase that translates the spirit of the Church in Nigeria following the release of three young seminarians who were abducted last Monday.
Read moreIn commemorating the twenty-fifth anniversary of the murder of Archbishop Christophe Munzihirwa Mwene Ngabo of the diocese of Bukavu, the local Church has denounced the persecution the diocese has been suffering recently at the hands of armed groups.
Read moreFaster progress cannot be made in the aid efforts because the currently precarious situation has stopped all travel to the country.
Read moreThree seminarians from Nigeria’s conflict-stricken Middle Belt were kidnapped from their college chapel last night (Monday) and six others were injured.
Read moreAfter more than four and a half years of captivity at the hands of Malian jihadist insurgents, Sister Gloria Cecilia Narváez Argoti, a missionary from Colombia, was freed on Saturday 9 October.
Read moreThe creation of 'the biggest district of Christians in the Middle East' has been warmly welcomed by a bishop from the area who sees the development as critical for securing the future of the Church in the country.
Read moreChildren studying at a Carmelite school in Kobayat, near Tripoli in Lebanon, gave thanks recently to the Blessed Virgin Mary for having saved two of their schoolmates from a forest fire, and at the same time called on children around the world to join in...
Read moreFather George Mangalapilly, an Indian priest, was recently acquitted of an alleged crime of "forcible religious conversion."
Read moreLeah Sharibu is a young Nigerian woman who was captured by Islamist terrorists on 19 February 2018.
Read moreThe diocese of Tapachula denounces incidents of maltreatment and launches an aid programme for migrants who, it says, are suffering a 'calvary.'
Read moreRegina Lynch, project manager at Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International, talks about her experience in Lebanon and Syria after a ten-day trip to evaluate the situation and assess new aid projects.
Read moreThe Catholic Church in Nigeria claims that the Christians in that country are the victims of a process of ethnic cleansing at the hands of Fulani Muslims, with the complicity of the state.
Read moreIn Sierra Leone, doctors and scientists who dealt with the onset of the current COVID-19 pandemic adapted some measures used during the Ebola epidemic to prevent a repeat of the tragedy that killed 3,590 people between 2014 and 2016 and traumatised the co...
Read moreOriginally from Pakistan, Sister Shahnaz Bhatti is a member of the congregation of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Jeanne-Antide Thouret. She was serving in Afghanistan until 25 August, when she was able to leave the country through the help of the Italia...
Read moreThe threat of Daesh (ISIS) and other extremists in Iraq has grown following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan – according to one of the Middle East’s most respected bishops.
Read moreIn an exclusive interview with the Portuguese national office of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN International), Bishop Antonio Juliasse, the apostolic administrator of the diocese of Pemba, describes the situation his diocese has been going through over t...
Read moreAli Ehsani is 38 years old and a lawyer by profession. After a very long and difficult journey, he arrived in Italy at the age of 13; he was all alone. He had fled Afghanistan after his Christian parents were killed for their faith. His only brother died...
Read moreOn 6 August 2014, the city of Qaraqosh fell into the hands of IS. The city is located on the Nineveh plains about 25 km outside of Mosul and was once considered the largest Christian city in the country. The Christians living in this region of Iraq were f...
Read moreHow the pandemic influences the working practice of a Charity.
Read moreFather Giovanni Scalese is a priest of the Order of Clerks Regular of Saint Paul (the Barnabites) and the Superior of the Church’s sui iuris mission in Afghanistan. In a recent interview with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN International), he spoke about h...
Read moreThe Church of the Assumption in the Chilean capital Santiago was one of the churches that was vandalised and burned during the protests of 18 October 2020.
Read moreChurches across Pakistan have stepped up security in response to the threat of terrorist attacks following the Taliban’s return to power in neighbouring Afghanistan.
Read moreThe monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in the town of Hazmieh, in the suburbs of Beirut, is a popular destination for Christians of all denominations, and indeed for Muslims as well.
Read moreFrom 5 to 12 September this year the International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest, Hungary will bring together Catholics from all over the world to deepen their faith in the importance of the Eucharist and reflect on the mission of the Church to make Go...
Read morePope Francis will meet the Roma minority in Košice – the 2nd largest Slovak city – during the papal visit to Slovakia from September 12th to 15th.
Read moreMany countries are lacking in resources or basic freedoms. In the West we frequently encounter a lack of faith.
Read moreSpeaking by telephone to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN International), Cardinal Chibly Langlois, Bishop of the diocese of Les Cayes, described the terrible situation facing his people in Haiti.
Read moreOn August 19, the 102nd anniversary of the country's independence from British rule, Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesman of the Taliban declared Afghanistan as the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” in its official Twitter account.
Read morePakistan: "The lives of victims accused of blasphemy are forever threatened and many have been killed."
Read more19 August marks the 30th anniversary of the coup carried out by the Soviet military and Communist elites.
Read moreACN Ireland is launching an initiative stressing the importance of the Eucharist and uniting all 26 dioceses in the country.
Read moreThe international community is shocked at the situation in Belarus, which is marked by the brutal suppression of protests and sanctions.
Read moreSeven years after the invasion by the Islamic State (IS) group, young Iraqis are taking their chances and are moving back to their homeland.
Read moreIt was a low-key, private pilgrimage. On the first Sunday of August Father Pier Luigi Maccalli visited the shrine of Fatima in Portugal to thank Our Lady for his liberation last October, after almost 2 years of captivity at the hands of a jihadist group i...
Read moreLebanese priest pause to remember a turning point in his homeland.
Read morePeople of Myanmar: Let us raise our hands and pray
Read moreThe charity approves an overall aid package of over 8 million AUD to help Catholic communities in India cope with the crisis.
Read moreDamascus, Syria — Christian Hope Centre, a Syrian organization supported by the Catholic Church, has opened its first ever microprojects program centre in the Syrian capital of Damascus.
Read more“I was lost, and have been found. I was dead, and I am alive again.” These were the words of gratitude expressed by Father León Douyon, a Catholic priest from the town of Ségué in the diocese of Mopti, in Mali, after having been liberated on 13 July this...
Read moreWith profound grief and sorrow ACN has received the news about the death of Bishop John Hsane Hgyi from Pathein, in Myanmar, due to COVID-19.
Read more"Kolay gelsin,” means “may it come easily."
Read moreOne in every two Catholics in the world are from Latin America. With almost 500 million Catholics, and despite the ever-growing presence of sects, about 44% of all Catholics in the world live in Latin America.
Read moreSister Francine, kidnapped on July 8 in Goma, in the eastern Democratic Province of Congo, is free again. This was announced by her religious community, the Daughters of the Resurrection, to the worldwide pontifical charity "Aid to the Church in Need" (AC...
Read moreThe pontifical foundation ACN confirms the release of Father Leon Douyon, Catholic priest from Ségué in the Mopti region of Mali, yesterday afternoon, Tuesday 13 July.
Read moreThe congregation of the Daughters of the Resurrection appeals to the benefactors of ACN for prayers.
Read more“This sad event marks an unfortunate turning point in the history of our people” the bishops of Haiti deplore. "
Read more“Pray a great deal for me…”
Read moreACN provides future and hope to refugees through pastoral care for children.
Read moreZimbabwe's recent re-imposition of a lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic has focused global attention once again on this distressed country.
Read more“His fate should be a wake-up call for the international community.”
Read moreThe international pontifical foundation ACN has received news of a jihadist attack on Fantio and Dolbel, two towns in the Tillabéri region, in southwestern Niger.
Read moreHow ACN is backing the family and the future of the children of Baghdeda (Qaraqosh).
Read moreThe economic and political crisis in Lebanon, home to the Middle East’s largest Christian community, has deepened ahead of a historic July 1 meeting between Pope Francis and Christian leaders from the country.
Read moreToday ACN is able to tell the inspiring story of this courageous Mozambican catechist.
Read moreAn ACN programme is giving them new hope and equipping them to fight for a better future.
Read moreThe Maronite Archbishop Chucrallah-Nabil El-Hage is involved in the prayer initiative “Peace Day for the East,” which will bring together all of the Middle East beginning on Sunday 27 June. In an interview with the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church...
Read moreAid to the Church in Need (ACN International) welcomes the Day of Peace for the Middle East.
Read moreMission accomplished – a pickup truck for the Capuchin missionaries in Kpassa.
Read moreA historic Lebanese church, that sustained severe damage in August 2020’s devastating blast, is on track to reopen in July 2021, thanks to help from ACN.
Read moreAid to the Church in Need (ACN) project partners denounce war conditions and inaction by the Nigerian government.
Read moreAmong the victims in the aftermath of the bloodiest terrorist attack since Islamist violence began are also Christians.
Read more“They are wounds that will be difficult to heal”, says Father Kwiriwi Fonseca of the diocese of Pemba in northern Mozambique.
Read moreNews of burned out villages and barbarous beheadings of individuals has become commonplace in this region.
Read moreOn the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Masses will be celebrated throughout the world for our benefactors.
Read moreACN welcomes the announcement of an emergency meeting in the Vatican.
Read moreChristine du Coudray retires after 28 years at ACN International as head of project department for Africa.
Read moreThe targeting of young people, indiscriminate killings and widespread sexual violence – including the rape of nuns – is part of a genocide against the Tigrayan ethnic group of northern Ethiopia, according to a source close to the Church.
Read moreCatholic nun expresses concern for the situation of the people following a mass exodus from Goma, a city of 2 million people.
Read morePrayers for the people of Goma
Read moreFour people killed – Cardinal Bo speaks of a “humanitarian tragedy”
Read moreA Bishop has taken personal charge of negotiations to secure the release of a retired parish priest kidnapped in northern Nigeria five days ago.
Read moreUnadulterated horror and new life often go hand in hand in Nigeria. The deeply moving story of one of the victims of Boko Haram is one such example.
Read moreBy Maria Lozano
Read morePrayer for the Holy Land
Read moreBy Ximena Rondon & María Lozano
Read moreAid to the Church in Need supports the work of lay preachers all over the world.
Read moreBishop from East Congo deplores terrorism and human rights violations in a talk with Aid to the Church in Need.
Read moreManaus in Brazil is the capital of the Amazonas state and one of the principal financial, industrial and economic centers of the northern region of Brazil.
Read moreThe Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need expresses its satisfaction to the appointment of Christos Stylianides, a Cypriot national, as Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU.
Read moreIndia is all over the news these days. The pandemic, which is a threat to people worldwide, has delivered a particularly hard blow to the country.
Read moreAn interview with Bishop Paluku Sikuli Melchisédech.
Read moreThe head of the Greek Catholic Church talked with ACN about his hopes that Pope Francis will visit the war-torn country.
Read moreThe Catholic Church in Latin America has not been spared the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read moreA Catholic priest tells ACN, “We need help – both material and spiritual."
Read moreACN Project Manager for South Sudan: “Years of armed conflict have made South Sudanese increasingly vulnerable.”
Read more8 years on since the abduction and we still have no news of these two missing Bishops.
Read moreACN shows solidarity with the Catholic Church of the island state.
Read moreRecently, the houses of 450 Catholic families in Hyderabad and Karachi were destroyed as part of an anti-encroachment drive—targeting homes considered to be illegal settlements—by Sindh provincial government.
Read moreCongolese bishops‘ conference calls for a new strategy to combat rebel militias.
Read moreBy Sebastian Moll
Read more“We are going to have to live with terrorist attacks”
Read moreBy Paulo Aido and Maria Lozano
Read more“We are running, fleeing, trying to hide here on the shore. They are shooting everywhere. May it be as God wills, here in Palma...”
Read moreTwo suspected suicide bombers have attacked the Sacred Heart of Jesus Cathedral in Makassar, the capital of Indonesia’s South Sulawesi province on the morning of March 28 when parishioners had just finished the celebration of Palm Sunday. The attack kille...
Read moreAs Easter approaches, Catholics who volunteer to provide security for churches around the country have begun participating in meetings at local police stations to protect parishioners.
Read moreSince 2003 all Iraqis have suffered the burdens of war: kidnapping, displacement, and death.
Read moreExpert talks about the motives behind the military coup.
Read moreThanks to a donation from Pope Francis, ACN has been able to help persecuted Christians in Iraq in the Niniveh Plains.
Read moreArchbishop Bashar Warda, who will be hosting Pope Francis on his visit to Iraq, hopes for more awareness on the part of the Muslim majority for the country’s Christians.
Read moreThe situation in the Sahel region is worrying. In the interview below Maria Lozano of the international Catholic pastoral charity and pontifical foundation ACN, speaks with Bishop Laurent B. DABIRE, of the diocese of Dori, in northern Burkina Faso.
Read moreReligious minorities in Pakistan, such as Christians and Hindus, face painful discrimination and persecution from the majority Muslim population. A new initiative by the government is meant to put a hold to this. ACN asked Shahid Mobeen, Pakistani Profess...
Read moreThe Bishop’s Conference of the Caribbean island deplores the explosive security and political situation.
Read moreThe Catholic Church in Mali (Africa) continues to pray and work for the release of the Colombian sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez Argoty, who was kidnapped four years ago on 7 February by jihadists linked to Al-Qaeda.
Read moreOn the 15th anniversary of the murder of Fr Andrea Santoro.
Read moreFiona Bruce MP, the Prime Minister’s Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion or Belief, has received a petition from a Catholic charity calling for asylum to be granted to a 14-year-old Christian girl in Pakistan whose life is in danger.
Read more“It is time to return to God.” Hundreds of Cuban Catholics, priests and lay alike, see their country in a state of profound crisis and are hoping for a national dialogue that will lead to political changes.
Read moreA series of kidnappings and acts of violence against priests and religious in Nigeria are of particular concern to Catholics in the country.
Read moreEgypt is home to the largest Christian community in the Arab world - the Coptic Church. Reaching back to the very beginnings of Christianity and to the Apostle Mark, there are today about 8 million Copts in Egypt. But in a politically deeply divided count...
Read more“The situation in northern Ethiopia is alarming. Communication is very precarious and for almost three weeks the region has been totally isolated from the rest of the world. No internet or telephone. But the news we get from those who have been able to vi...
Read moreAn interview with Gérard Ouambou.
Read moreLebanon is the country that has taken in the highest number of refugees in the world, in proportion to its own population.
Read moreIn memory of the first Venezuelan bishop to fall victim of COVID-19.
Read moreFollowing bloody massacres, the Bishop of Beni appeals to the international community through Aid to the Church in Need.
Read morePope Francis is due to visit Iraq from 5 – 8 March this year.
Read more"Without you, we could do nothing. You are the arms of God’s providence, who loves them through us. You make a material donation, and God gives you the joy of knowing that you are useful, today and in the future. And He will grant you Paradise.”
Read moreHappy New Year! These are words we commonly hear at this time of year. And they were also the first words addressed by Bishop Juan José Aguirre of Bangassou to all at the international Catholic pastoral charity and pontifical foundation Aid to the Church...
Read moreCoronavirus, terrorism and war – and once again a growing level of persecution.
Read moreA survivor looks back ten years after the attack on Coptic Christians.
Read moreA Christian man in Pakistan will at last walk out of prison a free man – after the court acquitted him in a case that spanned more than 11 years with nearly 70 adjournments.
Read more“Your support makes the families stay in the country,” states the Syrian Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo.
Read moreNaz Bano has been praying since 2016 for momentum in the movement to seek sainthood for her 20-year-old son, Akash Bashir, who was killed while preventing a suicide bomber from entering the crowded St. John’s Catholic Church.
Read moreThe death of the Syrian Orthodox Archbishop of Homs.
Read moreThe executive president of ACN International, Dr Thomas Heine-Geldern, has released the following statement:
Read moreIraq’s Christians have welcomed news that Pope Francis is set to go to Iraq next Spring – the first time any pontiff will have visited the country.
Read moreAfter two years living as a captive in the desert, somewhere between Niger and Mali, the Italian missionary Father Pierluigi Maccalli , who was received by the Pope on 9 November 2020, recalled his first impressions in an interview conducted by the SMA Me...
Read moreNot only is the weather harsh and cold north of the Arctic Circle, but the religious climate is also anything but pleasant at times for the handful of Catholics living in the Norwegian city of Harstad on the island of Hinnøya. Aid to the Church in Need (A...
Read moreBishops condemn corruption and the unjust treatment of Catholics.
Read moreMany communities all over the world are suffering such debilitating poverty that the faithful are not able to support their priests financially.
Read moreThis new report highlights innocent Christians held against their will.
Read moreACN will be donating 25,000 anoraks for Syrian children this Christmas.
Read moreThe Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) interviewed Rev. Fr. Blaise Agwon, director of the Centre for Dialogue, Reconciliation and Peace in Jos, the capital of Plateau State in the central belt region of central Nigeria.
Read moreACN is helping to rebuild the sisters’ convent on the ninth floor of the hospital building.
Read more"The Armenian people have always come back again from the midst of indescribable calamities."
Read moreAn Interview with Jesuit Antoine Audo, the Chaldean Bishop of Aleppo in Syria.
Read moreMaria Lozano, head of press and information at the charity’s international headquarters, spoke to Father Raymond Abdo, the provincial of the discalced Carmelite Fathers in Lebanon, to find out more about the life of the Christians in this country.
Read moreACN supports the reconstruction of the Church of Saint Saviour in Beirut.
Read moreNew massacres by jihadists – the number of refugees is growing daily.
Read more"I am here as a witness of the torment of a people, my people, who are asking only for the right to live in dignity." - The Archbishop of Kinshasa.
Read more“We hope that justice will prevail at the next court hearings."
Read moreWith major Hindu nationalist networks announcing plans to launch a campaign against religious conversions—especially in the tribal areas of India—Catholic Church leaders say such a campaign has been going on for a long time and that the move is aimed at d...
Read moreStatement by Thomas Heine-Geldern, Executive President of the foundation:
Read moreThe coronavirus pandemic has left Bethlehem’s tourism-reliant economy in tatters, according to a shop owner, who has appealed to pilgrims, saying he longs for the day when they can safely return.
Read moreDesolation and discouragement are spreading in Syria, so we must therefore sow hope for the people.
Read moreIn Pakistan, Shafique Masih has been living in hiding for nearly two decades despite his acquittal in a blasphemy case in 2001.
Read moreThe irrationality and hatred we are witnessing is an attack on a fundamental human right to religious liberty!
Read moreResponding to the appeal by Pope Francis, inviting all children to join in this initiative, young people from no fewer than 136 different countries and on every continent took part in the most recent annual event of “A million children praying the Rosary....
Read moreACN has received the sad news of the murder of the Venezuelan priest José Manuel de Jesús Ferreira, parish priest of the Eucharistic Shrine of San Juan Bautista in the diocese of San Carlos de Cojedes and project partner of ACN.
Read moreThe International Pontifical Foundation ACN condemns the violent attacks on churches in Santiago de Chile yesterday, 18 October. Two churches were attacked by protesters at a time when several hours of peaceful demonstrations were taking place to celebrat...
Read moreTwo brave children, Trey and Erin, ages 13 and 11, and their parents recently organised a fundraiser for the victims in Beruit and donated the money to Aid to the Church in Need's National Emergency Appeal for Lebanon.
Read moreThe charity announces new aid initiatives, ten weeks on from the catastrophic explosion in the city.
Read moreIn spite of the difficulties, Father Luai and Father Hanna have stayed on there because they believe that this region should not be abandoned.
Read moreMgr. Najeeb Michaeel, Chaldean Archbishop of Mosul, has been listed as one of the three finalists to obtain the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought by the European Parliament. The decision will be announced on 22 October.
Read moreDuring the Angelus in St Peter's Square on Sunday 11 October 2020, Pope Francis publicly announced and encouraged people to participate in Aid to the Church in Need's prayer campaign 'One Million Children Praying the Rosary.'
Read moreThe head of a Catholic human rights’ organisation in Pakistan has hit out at the country’s justice system for taking so long to free the man wrongly accused of sparking one of the worst outbreaks of anti-Christian violence.
Read moreThe Italian SMA missionary Father Pier Luigi Maccalli has finally been set free, on Tuesday 6 October 2020, more than two years after he was originally abducted in the diocese of Niamey in Niger, on 17 February 2018.
Read more"The people in Lebanon are people who need love, they need to be cared for."
Read moreIn an October 1 message marking the 60th anniversary of Nigeria’s independence from British rule, Bishop Matthew Kukah of Sokoto was harshly critical of the country’s President Mohammadu Buhari, faulting him for failing to rein in ongoing violence, much o...
Read moreJohn Paul II told us that Lebanon is a message: "We Christians here have an important role to play in this country, and the day we forget this message, Lebanon will no longer be Lebanon.”
Read moreOne man's conversion to Christianity
Read moreA documentary film supported by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) about a missionary living with the Dassanech people on Ethiopia’s Omo River, who works to overcome generations of inter-tribal violence through evangelisation and reconciliation, was selected...
Read more“When one million children pray the rosary, the world will change” - St Padre Pio
Read moreLooking back at almost 30 years of service for the Church in Africa:
Read moreInterview with Reinhard Backes, head of projects for the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need, after his visit to Lebanon from 7-16 September 2020.
Read moreWe ask for the sake of humanity for the whole world to put their hands together and help the people in Lebanon.
Read moreThe Bishop of Kaduna declares that 'dark clouds of violence have enveloped our land'
Read moreOur brothers and sisters in Cuba are struggling with poverty after the hurricane that hit in 2019
Read moreThese people are asking for the least of their rights – they are asking for food!
Read moreACN is preparing a second wave of help for Beirut amid growing fears that last month’s explosion could spark an exodus of Christians from Lebanon.
Read moreArchbishop Kondrusievicz has since been refused re-entry into Belarus and unknown persons have changed the locks of a Catholic church in Minsk.
Read moreSisters missing in Mozambique!
Read moreAmjad Arif tells ACN about his sufferings after being unjustly arrested in 2015.
Read moreInterview with Ján Figel’, the former EU Special Envoy for the promotion of freedom of religion or belief outside the EU:
Read moreMaronite Father Charbel Eid, from Lebanon, talks about the situation in his native country.
Read moreChildren receiving the Sacrament of First Holy Communion talk with ACN International about their faith in Jesus.
Read moreMaira fled Nakash’s home
Read moreToday all our people are struggling to obtain their daily bread
Read moreHoly Father, Pope Francis calls the Bishop of Pemba:
Read moreThe outcome of the August 9th election triggered serious riots
Read moreThe 22nd of August has been dedicated as the 'International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief' which recognizes the importance of giving victims of acts of violence towards religion or belief and their families...
Read moreInternational Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief must lead to concrete action says Dr Thomas Heine-Geldern, international executive president of Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need.
Read moreReligions for Peace issued an appeal signed by Religious Leaders of Myanmar in connection with the elections scheduled for November. The document is entitled “Seize the opportunity!” and was published in July 13, 2020.
Read moreThe charity is funding food parcels for survivors of the explosion in Beirut
Read moreSystematic violence against Nigerian Christians by Fulani herdsmen constitutes genocide according to a leading Catholic bishop who stressed that Muslims are also falling foul of the violence.
Read moreAugust will mark the anniversaries of nine other countries, namely Benin, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Gabon and Senegal.
Read moreThe most recent attack on a Christian in Pakistan has further increased the suffering and fear among Christians throughout the country.
Read moreACN International has condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist-style arson attack against the Catholic cathedral in Managua, the Nicaraguan capital.
Read moreThe Fazendas – the “Farms of Hope” - seek to give an answer to this suffering.
Read moreSix years after IS-invasion a Church's reconstruction fuels Christian's hope.
Read moreCampaign to free 14-year-old Christian girl in Pakistan.
Read moreMozambique: “The international community is nowhere to be seen in regard to the problem” in Cabo Delgado, says European deputy Paulo Rangel.
Read moreJohn Paul II made history during his lifetime and became one of the giants of the 20th century – both in the history of the Church and of the wider world.
Read moreby Jacques Berset. The news came through on 14 March 2020 – the first known case of infection with Covid-19 had been detected in Brazzaville. In response the Congolese government had imposed a general lockdown on the entire population.
Read moreby Paulo Aido (edited by Maria Lozano). March 15 will mark the ninth anniversary of the start of the conflict in Syria. "The situation is terrible," said Sister Maria Lúcia Ferreira, a sister from the Mar Yakub Monastery in Qara, in the Christian region o...
Read moreby Grace Attu. Today we the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria and with significant support of priests, consecrated persons and our beloved lay faithful embark on a peaceful protest against the high level of insecurity in every part of Nigeria.
Read moreNigeria is a unique country. Its inhabitants are distributed almost equally between Christians and Muslims. It comprises about one fifth of the African population, so a crisis that is not seriously dealt with in Nigeria would end up affecting the rest of...
Read moreby Thomas Oswald. Anne-Isabelle Tollet was the first foreign journalist to alert the international community about the Asia Bibi affair. After discovering, through the Pakistani woman, the iniquity and excesses of Pakistan’s “anti-blasphemy legislation...
Read more“We Christians are persecuted, while the west remains indifferent – even selling arms to the terrorists instead of stopping them”
Read more