UKRAINE Remember our ‘silent and forgotten war’ pleads Archbishop Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk of Kyiv, head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, called on the international community and especially fellow Catholics not to forget the crisis in Ukraine. “This is a silent and forgotten war. Because it is a ‘frozen [...]
NIGERIA “We may be doing better. But we are still far from normality” - Fr Bature Father Tobias Bature, a priest of the diocese of Maiduguri in the state of Borno, Nigeria recently visited the headquarters of the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). The [...]
MADAGASCAR Islamisation is on the march Madagascar is currently going through a grave political crisis, a few months ahead of the presidential elections. Christians have been a majority on the island since the 19th century. Although it is difficult to find reliable statistics, the latest Report on Religious Freedom [...]
IRAQ "A strong coalition government is needed to remove weapons from sectarian militias" -Patriarch Sako Chaldean Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako addressed a letter to all Iraqi politicians and the diplomatic delegations present in Iraq, highlighting their responsibility in the face of the political-institutional paralysis which Iraq is in after [...]
PAKISTAN "A call to pray and serve my people” - Cardinal Coutts On his return to Pakistan after being created cardinal in Rome, Cardinal Joseph Coutts commented: "I am not chosen because I am the most capable. This is God's plan for me: serving him close to the Holy [...]
SYRIA 40 Reasons for Hope ACN unveils fresh emergency and pastoral aid plan More than 40 projects offering emergency relief and spiritual support to people in Syria have just been approved by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need. The £2.65 million (€3 million) programme being rolled [...]
THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO “We are abandoned by the state” say bishops of Equatorial region Bishops of the Congolese Province of Equator are very concerned about the local socio-economic situation in the Equatorial region. "The Bishops emphasize that the Equator is not connected well to the rest of [...]
ERITREA The first step after peace must be helping young people After a peace agreement was signed in July by Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki and Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed formally ending 20 years of war between the two countries, an Eritrean Catholic priest said the country needs to [...]
PAKISTAN The Christian minority in Balochistan is facing greater security issues Pakistan's new prime minister, Imran Khan, said that the “major focus” of his government will be to “address the plight of the oppressed and weakest segments of the society, including minorities, and to fight poverty.” One region to [...]
IRAQ 'We would be lost without our fellow Christians in the West' Christians in the West have played a crucial role in reviving communities in Iraq ravaged by extremists in the ancient Nineveh Plains - according to a Church leader who has helped pioneer their resettlement in towns and [...]
