RUSSIA Centenary of the October Revolution: Persecuted Christians then and now    7 November 2017 marks the 100th anniversary of the October Revolution in Russia. The revolution developed into a brutal civil war that ended with the establishment of the communist Soviet Union: a violent dictatorship ideologically rooted in Marxism, [...]

MYANMAR “The Pope will come to heal the wounds of the country”   Cardinal Charles Maung Bo of Yangon, the first Burmese cardinal in the history of the Church, spoke about the upcoming papal trip to the country. He stressed that the “Vatican and others need to work toward healing [...]

Remembering our departed loved ones in November   “From the earliest times, the Church has honoured the memory of the dead and offered suffrage for them, particularly the Eucharistic sacrifice so that purified from their sins, they will attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also recommends charity, indulgences [...]

IRAQ US adviser warns Iraqi-Kurdish war could be the end for Christians   Two weeks ago, Stephen Rasche, a Catholic lawyer from Boston who acts as the adviser to the Chaldean Catholic Church, warned that two millennia of Christianity in Iraq could be wiped out completely if war breaks out [...]

IRAQ Urgent message from Patriarch Sako to country’s leaders   These days, our country is going through unprecedented circumstances that are the result of all that happened in Iraq from the north to the south for years and until now. Therefore, this critical phase requires a comprehensive and national collaboration [...]

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC “We are trying to disarm both hearts and minds”   Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalaingaof Bangui speaks to ACN about the power of religions to unite people in the fight against  civil war in the Central African Republic. For years, rebel groups in the Central African Republic have been [...]

EGYPT Coptic priest killed by Islamic State    Egypt's military has been attempting to fight off IS attacks on its territory for years, with the jihadists often targeting churches and believers. IS radicals have warned that they will continue killing Coptic Christians, who are a minority in the country. The [...]

IRAQ 300 Christian women visit historic monastery recaptured from Islamic State   300 women visited a historic monastery near Mosul after its liberation from the Islamic State. They went there with their parish priest to show that they were not afraid and that Christians in Iraq are here to stay. [...]

NIGERIA Four British missionaries kidnapped in Delta state   Following the recent abduction of an Italian priest, who was released unharmed after spending three days captive in a forest, Nigerian police released a statement saying that four British missionaries were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen in the country’s southern Delta state [...]