PHILIPPINES - Priest and staff held hostage by Muslim extremists A Catholic priest and his staff are reportedly being held hostage by ISIS-inspired lawless elements that have occupied a number of facilities and public buildings in the Islamic city of Marawi, Central Mindanao, Philippines. Archbishop Socrates Villegas, President of the [...]

GUINEA - Church flourishes again after years of suppression by dictator Guinea is an overwhelmingly Islamic country in which roughly 85% of the population of 11.6 million people are Muslims. Christians make up only around 8%, while the remainder of the population are adherents of traditional African religions. For decades [...]

SOUTH SUDAN - "It takes unity to achieve peace" - Bishop Kussala   Bishop Barani Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala of Tombura-Yambio has published “An Open Letter of Hope and Peace to the Elders of Greater Bahr El Ghazal.” In it Bishop Kussala, the president of the Sudanese Catholic Bishops’ Conference, called [...]

BANGASSOU - Catholic bishop shields Muslims   Spanish missionary Bishop Juan José Aguirre of Bangassou in the Central African Republic, has denounced the outbreak of revenge violence against Muslims in his city by the Anti-balaka, a group of mainly animist and anti-Muslim guerrillas. He was speaking to the Spanish office [...]

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC - Thousands take refuge in church properties as violence erupts again Violence has erupted once again in the Central African Republic. In response the United Nations plans to deploy additional peacekeeping forces in the Central African Republic diamond-mining town of Bangassou to “neutralize attackers, protect civilians and facilitate [...]

CHINA “The communists are afraid of Our Lady of Fatima”  Retired Bishop of Hong Kong comments on the situation of the church in China   Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun was a guest of Aid to the Church in Need Germany at the Day of Encounters that was held at the German [...]

SYRIA  - Sign of hope as Aleppo is consecrated to Our Lady of Fatima The war ravaged city of Aleppo saw a ray of hope this month with a consecration to Our Lady of Fatima on 13 May. The consecration of Aleppo took place on the 100th anniversary of the [...]

INDIA Demolished cross sparks outrage among Catholics   Th archdiocese of Mumbai is taking legal action following the demolition of a 122 year-old cross in a suburb of Mumbai late last month. Local civic officers had demolished the cross, inciting an angry response from the Catholic community. A makeshift cross was [...]

"The Church is the family of God" – interview with Cardinal Robert Sarah about the Church in Africa   In an interview with the international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) the Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship, Cardinal Robert Sarah speaks about the contribution [...]