AZERBAIJAN- Catholic faith growing slowly but steadily Christianity has very ancient roots in Azerbaijan,dating right back to the time of the Gospels. Although today some 90-95% of the population are Muslims, 70 years of Communism have meant that in practice no more than about 20% of these even practise their religion today. [...]
YEMEN - Nuns killed in terrorist attack on retirement home Four nuns from the Missionaries of Charity, the congregation founded by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, were killed last Friday in the city of Aden, Yemen. They were: Sr. Anslem from Ranchi, India who would have turned 60 years old on 8 May; [...]
Just 13 years old Extract from a letter received recently from Archbishop Jeanbart of Aleppo He was just 13, poor Fouad Banna, the child whom we buried this afternoon – his sister Rosy, his close family members and myself. His parents, both seriously wounded, were not present at his funeral for [...]
Five years have passed since Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan’s Minister for Minorities Affairs and the first Christian to hold such high office in the Federal Government of this Islamic country, was murdered. Up to now it is not clear who stood behind his assassination, though in fact the far more interesting [...]
Kenya builds new prison for 'extremists' to tackle radicalisation Kenya’s president Uhuru Kenyatta announced plans to build a special prison to house "violent and extremist" offenders to keep them from influencing other prisoners, though no timelines were given for its opening. "We will establish a new prison to hold violent, extremist [...]
Freedom for 1000 prisoners – Indian Franciscans' initiative in the Jubilee Year of Mercy At their 15th National Assembly in Shanthi Sadana in Bangalore, Indian Franciscans took up the theme: Franciscans: Christ’s Face of Mercy in this World and announced a nationwide plan to release at least 1000 prisoners under the network of Association [...]
BENIN - Parish church in Kalalé is bursting at the seams!The parish of Saint Pierre in Kalalé is situated in the northeast of Benin, close to the frontier with Nigeria. The present parish church was built in 1990. At that time it was large enough to accommodate all the faithful, but [...]
Pope Francis speaks out against the death penaltyPope Francis is known to be an opponent of the death penalty and has spoken out against it on previous occasions, for example in September 2015 during his visit to the United States. In his latest pronouncement he has gone even further and [...]
India’s ruling BJP party uses divisive religious tactics to win critical by-election Recent news that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a by-election in the troubled Muzaffarnaga region is of concern to religious minorities in India, including Christians. The reason is that BJP deliberately used divisive [...]
SUDAN - Finding the strength to forgivePope Francis’ Year of Mercy can help refugees find the strength to forgive, says a Sudanese bishop. During the Holy Year Christians are invited to focus on the merciful God and encouraged to reflect on their faith. Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church [...]
