Father George Mangalapilly, an Indian priest, was recently acquitted of an alleged crime of “forcible religious conversion.” On December 14, 2017, he was attacked, along with 32 seminarians, by a group of radical Hindu extremists while singing Christmas carols in the village of Bhumkahar, Jawahar Nagar in the state of Madhya [...]
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is increasingly concerned about the danger to priests, religious and lay missionaries in many parts of the world. So far in 2021, the media have reported that at least 17 have been murdered and 20 have been kidnapped. “Being a priest or religious [...]
Besides rising Islamic fundamentalism and intolerance, Christians in Pakistan have also had to deal with endemic intolerance and were disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 Pandemic. Christians in Pakistan are “the poorest of the poor” and many do not see any hope for their future in a country where discrimination is [...]
This month, red light will bathe hundreds of cathedrals, churches, monuments and public buildings around the world as part of an international campaign to raise awareness of the persecution of Christians and the need for religious freedom. The international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) launched the [...]
A Catholic missionary has sent out a plea for peace from war-torn Ethiopia. The missionary, who cannot be named for security reasons, spoke to Aid to the Church in Need – International (ACN) about the situation in Northern Ethiopia, where the conflict between Government Forces and those loyal to the [...]
On the Eve of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's meeting with Pope Francis at the Vatican, a report entitled “Christians Under Attack in India,” compiled by various Christian NGOs, records 300 anti-Christian incidents so far in 2021. Modi’s nationalist Hindu BJP party is seen as helping foment anti-Christian and anti-Muslim [...]
For almost 30 years now, in accordance with the heartfelt wish of Pope Saint John Paul II, ACN has been helping to promote fraternal dialogue between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox Church. The historic meeting between Pope Francis and Patriarch Kirill of Moscow in February 2016 in Havana, [...]
Eight months after visiting Iraq’s war-torn city Mosul, Pope Francis sent a message to the citizens, saying that he remembers the destruction he witnessed. “I pray that the Lord will visit Mosul, and give her consolation after so much suffering,” Francis said. “I pray for all the citizens who died, [...]
A Colombian religious missionary, who was released recently in Mali, nearly five years after she was kidnapped by Islamic militants, has said faith and prayer helped her survive her ordeal. Sister Gloria Cecilia Narvaez Argoti of the Congregation of the Franciscan Sisters of Mary Immaculate was abducted on February 7, [...]
Amid a spiraling economic crisis and an upsurge in violence, a Middle Eastern Patriarch says that if the West fails to help the Christians in Lebanon the community could soon be extinct. During a visit to the international headquarters of the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), [...]
