The Catholic Church in Belarus is highly involved in pastoral work with children and young people. Every week, hundreds of children attend catechesis, and every year numerous children receive their first Holy Communion. During the Soviet period, the practice of religion was severely restricted, but thanks to the deep faith [...]
Bishop Tesfaselassie Medhin tells the international pontifical foundation ACN about the terrible human rights violations that occurred during the devastating war from 2020 to 2022 in the northern Ethiopian region of Tigray, and particularly the sexual violence against women and girls. Parts of his diocese are still occupied, and many [...]
An amendment to the Christian Marriage Act means that girls and boys cannot marry below the age of 18. Though only a first step, this could make it easier to curb cases of abduction and forced marriage of Christian girls in the country. The Catholic Church in Pakistan has applauded [...]
When he converted to Christianity, at age 12, Gerald Musa’s father could scarcely have imagined that his son would become the first bishop of his influential Hausa ethnic group. Though mostly used nowadays to refer to the Pope, bishops in the Catholic Church have traditionally been called “pontifex”, which is [...]
A decrease in the influence of Islamist extremism in Egypt has made it possible for Christians to begin the reconstruction of damaged churches and even consider building new ones. The Egyptian government has lifted the restrictions on the construction of churches, allowing the Coptic Catholic community to start restoring St [...]
Eight months after hundreds of Christians were massacred on Christmas Eve and three months after another carnage on Easter Monday, the Nigerian government has failed to keep people safe, according to a priest caring for displaced people. Survivors of massacres by extremists in Nigeria’s Middle Belt “have no trust” in [...]
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 [...]
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, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
