MIDDLE EAST - Christians divided over ‘safe zones’ for refugees Christian humanitarian and aid groups are divided over whether the policy of creating Safe Zones for refugees in the Middle East will work. “Safe Zones” would be areas set up in the war-torn countries for civilians displaced by the conflict to [...]
Pope Francis speaks out for rights of indigenous people Pope Francis met with representatives of indigenous peoples who were in Rome for the Third Indigenous Peoples’ Forum. The Forum was organised by the International Fund for Agricultural Development, which is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its foundation this year. The aim [...]
SOUTH SUDAN Famine declared - Pope and UN appeal for emergency aid Years of civil war, a refugee crisis and a collapsing economy have taken their toll on South Sudan, which only gained its independence in 2011. Since early 2017, parts of South Sudan have been experiencing a famine following several years [...]
https://issuu.com/wwwacn/docs/lehen_19_ta__frar_2017
MALI - Nun in Mali kidnapped by alleged jihadists The Colombian Foreign Ministry confirmed from the San Carlos Palace in Bogotá that Sister Gloria Cecilia Narváez, a religious Sister from Colombia, was abducted by armed men while serving in Mali. Although all four of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate who live [...]
BRAZIL - 28 seminarians being trained to combat the challenge of proliferating sects Brazil still holds onto its place as the most populous Catholic nation on earth, yet the percentage of Catholics in the country continues to fall. Today only around 72% of the more than 190 million Brazilians still declare [...]
BULGARIA - Franciscan Sisters' apostolate with children and lonely elderly Bulgaria is now a member of the European Union, but despite this, around a fifth of the 7.1 million or so inhabitants of this Southeast European nation still live in poverty. In fact one in 10 people are even defined as [...]
ETHIOPIA - New chapel in one of the remotest regions of the country The region of Benishangul-Gumuz lies in the far west of Ethiopia, on the border with Sudan, and is one of the poorest and most underdeveloped regions in the country. It has a population of almost 990,000, a [...]
IRAQ - Church announces survival plan for displaced Christians Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil has unveiled plans to provide a future for Iraq's displaced Christians - despite fresh reports showing the extent of the destruction of their homes in the Nineveh Plains.Archbishop Warda said the Churches aim to rebuild "so that [...]
CONGO - Framework Agreement to govern Church - state relations signed The Holy See and the Republic of the Congo have finalised a framework agreement on the relations between the Catholic Church and the state. The agreement was signed at the Palace of the People of the Republic of the [...]