Father 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.

The 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.

For 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.

Australia’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.

Growing 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.

The 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.

Before the war, Syria had a vibrant and stable Christian community, but 12 years of conflict and economic crisis forced many to flee.

The 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.

Several 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.

During 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.

The superior general of the Congregation of the Albertine Brothers, Brother Franciszek Grzelka of Poland, recently visited his fellow brothers and brought them a delivery of relief supplies.

Cardinal Sandri: “What was a dream is now a reality!”

The 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.

Two months ago, Maryamu Joseph (16) escaped from Boko Haram after being held for nine years.

“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.

Bishop 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”.

“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.

With the war entering its eighth month, ACN spoke to Vasylij Tuchapets, Greek Catholic Bishop of Kharkiv about the importance of remaining with the people and the needs in eastern Ukraine as winter approaches.