Human rights violations are widespread in Burundi, a small country which borders the much larger Democratic Republic of the Congo. For years, the country has been largely isolated from the outside world. Recently, the Burundian bishops drew attention to the country's plight, which is hardly noticed by the global public. [...]
Priests and religious Sisters in Lebanon have explained how the solar panels donated by ACN have enabled them to survive soaring energy costs. Basic necessities like electricity are prohibitively expensive in Lebanon and Syria because of an ongoing economic crisis, making renewable energy systems crucial, according to the local Church. [...]
A brave Catholic seminarian who spent his pastoral placement ministering in India’s remote, cobra-infested jungle will be ordained a priest next week. Deacon Santosh Kumar has been ministering in the parish Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Kalpahad, North Andaman, where parishioners regularly walk 6 km (3 miles) through dangerous forests [...]
The Fourth Sunday of Easter also known as the Good Shepherd Sunday is the World Day of Prayer for Vocations. This year marks the 61st anniversary of this event which was initiated by Pope Paul VI during the Second Vatican Council in 1964. In celebrating this occasion, Pope Francis reminds [...]
A pilgrim image of Our Lady of Fátima, blessed by Pope Paul VI in 1967, was recently at the international headquarters of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in Königstein, Germany. The executive president of ACN International, Regina Lynch, stressed the connection between ACN and the message of Fátima, [...]
Thousands of people have signed a petition calling for the beatification of 171 Catholics slain during the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings in Sri Lanka. Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, Archbishop of Colombo yesterday (21st April) received the appeal from Catholics in his diocese calling for the slaughtered Christians to be beatified – [...]
Pope Francis made a heartfelt appeal on Sunday 14th April following the Regina Coeli, when he called for a stop to any actions that may fuel the "spiral of violence" in the Middle East that risk plunging the region into an even wider war. The Pope said he is following [...]
A bishop in Pakistan has expressed his disappointment with the authorities for failing to bring to justice those behind one of the country’s worst attacks against Christians – and for not doing enough to help victims. Highlighting the growing fears of his people, Bishop Indrias Rehmat of Faisalabad said that [...]
In December, Maxime François-Marsal, the coordinator ofACN’s projects in French-speaking countries in Central Africa, travelled to Congo-Brazzaville, also known as the Republic of the Congo, a nation which borders Angola, Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, among others. In this interview he speaks about the situation of the [...]
Civil war has caused the Sudan’s small Christian minority to decline drastically – but there are signs of new life in the Church. Despite more than 13,900 deaths and 8.1 million having suffered displacement since the conflict broke out a year ago on 15th April 2023, local Church sources expressed [...]
