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ACN helps Jesuits open first novitiate in Bangladesh

Thirty years after returning to Bangladesh, the Jesuits are opening a new novitiate on 16 July in the South Asian country, where Christians are a small minority. By allowing the novices to have their initial formation in the local culture and languages, the Jesuits hope to promote vocations. “A Grace [...]

2024-07-10T12:53:26+02:00

PAKISTAN: Desperate plea for Christian man put on death row

The head of the Catholic Church in Pakistan has lambasted a court for passing the death sentence on a Christian man found guilty of blasphemy in connection with one of the worst atrocities against minorities in the country’s history. Bishop Samson Shukardin, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan, [...]

2024-07-10T12:42:28+02:00

IRAQ: A story of resilience & faith, 10 years after ISIS

Many feared that the invasion of their homelands would drive Christians from Iraq for good, but ten years after being driven from their homelands by militants of the Islamic State (ISIS), thousands of Christians have returned to houses in the Nineveh Plains rebuilt with the help of ACN, taking with [...]

2024-07-10T12:11:09+02:00

MOZAMBIQUE: Church destroyed but Christian community standing strong

Four years after Islamist extremists destroyed their church, Catholics in a north-east Mozambique parish are still gathering around the ruins every Sunday to pray and “give thanks to God”. The faith of the Christian community in Muslim-majority Mocímboa da Praia remains strong despite no priests or religious being left in [...]

2024-07-03T13:46:08+02:00

EAST TIMOR: “Pope’s visit a blessing and source of hope”

Devotion to the Catholic Church is one of the distinguishing aspects of East Timorese culture. Francis will be the second Pope to visit the territory, but the first since independence. East Timor is one of the world’s youngest countries, having obtained independence in 2002, with Pope Francis’ visit on 9-11 [...]

2024-07-03T12:50:01+02:00

UKRAINE: “We live from hour to hour”

During his visit to the international headquarters of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishop Pavlo Honcharuk of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Kharkiv-Zaporizhzhia spoke with the charity about the situation on the ground. During the discussion the bishop, who leads one of the largest dioceses in Europe, highlighted [...]

2024-07-03T12:38:23+02:00

DRC: Bishop calls on authorities to end the Calvary of the Congolese people

After new massacres in North-Kivu, Mgr Sikuli Paluku, Bishop of Butembo-Beni, in a message sent to ACN, denounces the atrocities committed by the ADF since the beginning of June 2024. The bishop insists that there cannot be a separation between faith and the defence of human dignity. Following massacres by [...]

2024-06-26T13:58:57+02:00

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: In their daily struggles, the faithful find comfort in faith

In Batey 5, a peripheral area of the Diocese of Barahona on the border with Haiti, three missionaries, with the support of Aid to the Church in Need, help fight poverty and social exclusion in the neediest parish in one of the poorest dioceses in the Dominican Republic. Not far [...]

2024-06-26T13:48:11+02:00

SOUTHERN LEBANON: ACN and the Local Church calls for prayers for peace

ACN and the local Church are calling for prayer so that peace may be restored to the region. Daily rocket fire in southern Lebanon is plunging the inhabitants into deeper poverty than they were already suffering as a result of the terrible financial crisis in 2019. The Church is standing [...]

2024-06-19T14:50:31+02:00

A “gap” of inhumanity: Latin American bishop cries out over Darién crisis

The Archbishop of Panama spoke to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) about his experience in the region of the Darién Gap, one of the most inhospitable migratory routes in Latin America. Archbishop José Domingo Ulloa highlighted the urgent need for attention and action in the face of the [...]

2024-06-19T13:59:41+02:00