A priest is helping Sisters care for hungry and traumatised internal refugees who have fled their homes because of the ongoing civil war in Sudan. Father Jacob Thelekkadan is helping the local Salesian Sisters care for about 80 IDPs (internally displaced people) sheltering at the Sisters’ Dar Mariam residence in [...]
Two years on, terrorists suspected of murdering more than 40 worshippers during Pentecost Sunday Mass in south-west Nigeria still have not been charged, but parishioners’ faith is stronger than ever, say local sources. Father Michael Abugan – parish priest at St Francis Xavier’s Catholic Church, Owo where the massacre took [...]
A leading Catholic bishop has made an impassioned plea calling on world powers to come together and demand that the Pakistan authorities act to protect the lives of persecuted minority faith groups under increasing threat from flagrant misuse of the country’s notorious blasphemy laws. Bishop Samson Shukardin, President of the [...]
The international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) supports a prison ministry programme for priests and lay volunteer missionaries in the Archdiocese of Guayaquil, Ecuador, to care for and accompany both prisoners and their families, offering hope in the environment of insecurity that has taken over the [...]
The international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need is in close contact with its local partners in Rio Grande do Sul and Santa Catarina, the areas worst affected by the floods, and is committed to helping with recovery efforts. Torrential rain has already led to the deaths of [...]
24th May marked the centenary of Chinese bishops entrusting their country to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Despite governmental constraints and surveillance, thousands of pilgrims flocked to Sheshan Basilica, 22 miles outside of Shanghai to celebrate the event. Catholic prelates consecrated the East Asian nation to Our Lady of China, Queen [...]
A Catholic missionary priest is back in Gaza after more than seven months in Jerusalem, having decided to face severe dangers to support the region’s Christian community and everyone else in need. Father Gabriel Romanelli was able to return to Holy Family Parish – Gaza’s only Catholic church – while [...]
A groundbreaking formation for catechists and other lay Catholic leaders is to be held on the island of Mindanao, in the Philippines. Mindanao – which has been plagued by interreligious violence and tension for decades, spearheaded by militant Islamist groups – will host the special formation programme next month, at [...]
Two devastating Islamist militant offensives have intensified Mozambique’s displacement crisis, prompting the Church to step up aid efforts. Armed insurgent groups linked to ISIS targeted a town and two villages in Cabo Delgado Province, northern Mozambique, causing hundreds of residents to flee, local sources told Aid to the Church in [...]
The Vatican is preparing to hold the first World Children’s Day, 25-26 May. Pope Francis, in his message for this occasion, emphasizes the preciousness of every child in God’s eyes. In 1979, ACN marked the “International Year of the Child” by producing the Child’s Bible to assist the Church’s pastoral [...]
