“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.”

The 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.

Protestors 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.

Aid 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.

Cardinal 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.

Following the devastating earthquakes on 6 February,  ACN has reached out to our project partners in Syria. Here's what they have to say.

As 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.

During a visit to the regions affected by the earthquake, the Apostolic Nuncio to Syria says that he saw “a sea of pain”.

Despite the horror caused by the earthquake that devastated large parts of Northern Syria, there are signs of hope, especially in the way Syrians have come together in a show of unity and solidarity not seen since before the Civil War.

Shocked 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.

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is appealing for prayer amid alarming reports of two earthquakes killing more than 1,200 people and causing havoc in north-west Syria and south Turkey.

Sister 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.

Aid 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.

On 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.

Fr 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.

ACN had recently cooperated with the parish in which church warden Diego Valencia was murdered

Only 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.

“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.