The reaction by governments around the world to the coronavirus healthcare crisis has had a profound effect on human rights, and not least on the right to freedom of religion and freedom of religious worship, prompting serious debate on the implications of the political decisions that were taken. In the [...]
The Sisters of Mercy of the Holy Cross in the Indian state of West Bengal are immensely grateful to our benefactors for having enabled them to purchase essential personal protective equipment against the coronavirus. The sisters are working on the front line against the disease and the 22,862 Euros given [...]
Fr. Pierluigi Maccalli who spent two years in captivity after his abduction in October 2018 by a jihadist group has revealed his experience to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). During an interview with ACN, Father Pierluigi, accompanied by his brother, Father Walter Maccalli, also a priest, and Portuguese [...]
The YOUCAT is a catechism for young people and young adults based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The fundamental elements of the Catholic faith are summarised in a brief and easily comprehensible style. And the book, which is now available in 58 different languages, is made still more [...]
KOLAY GELSIN, LITERALLY “MAY IT COME EASILY,” IS A COMMON GREETING HEARD ON THE STREETS OF TURKEY. It is said to people carrying out hard work to express the wish that they may bear their burdens with greater ease and be relieved of their burden. Father Simon Härting, a German-born [...]
Exactly 12 months ago, Fr. Marwan Mouawad, 46, was celebrating mass for a small group of 10 people in a poor neighborhood of Beirut, when he felt the church moving above him. Suspecting an earthquake, he paused his chanting. The electricity cut. Seconds later, one of the strongest non-nuclear explosions [...]
Christian Hope Center, a Syrian Catholic organization has opened its first ever microprojects program center in Damascus, with support from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). The program, which launched officially on July 22, will provide families with funds to begin new business ventures or restart projects disrupted during [...]
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has just approved a fresh major aid package to help priests, religious, and also catechists and their families in more than 140 Indian dioceses, who are struggling to cope with the crisis and its consequences. The charity’s new COVID relief package, which includes [...]
For three days in Washington, D.C., the first-ever International Religious Freedom (IRF) Summit (July 13-15) brought together more than 30 different faiths to discuss threats to religious freedom around the world. The summit was attended by more than 700 representatives of some 70 NGOs, including Aid to the Church in [...]
“I was lost, and have been found. I was dead, and I am alive again.” These were the words of gratitude expressed by Fr. León Douyon, a Catholic priest from the town of Ségué in the diocese of Mopti, in Mali, after having been liberated on 13 July this year [...]
