Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) will from 14 June 2023 be led by Regina Lynch, a long-serving Project Director of the charity. She takes over the role of Executive Director for the next five years from Dr Thomas Heine-Geldern (71). Cardinal Mauro Piacenza remains President of the foundation, [...]
On the first anniversary of the Pentecost Sunday 2022 church attack in Nigeria, the bishop of the diocese where the slaughter took place has said that the evils of terrorism can scar people for a lifetime. Bishop Jude Arogundade told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that the extremists [...]
In February 2023 a powerful earthquake struck the region of southern Turkey and northern Syria. At least 50,000 people died and a huge number of buildings were destroyed. Among the areas most hard-hit was the city of Aleppo in Syria, already devastated by the civil war in the country. Father [...]
The war in Ukraine has prompted the greatest wave of refugees since the Second World War. All in all almost 15 million people have been forced to flee, around 7 million of them within their own country. Many have found shelter in Church-run facilities. Currently 98 women and children have [...]
Although the number of Christians in Iraq continues to be low, there are signs of rebirth of the Church in areas that were severely impacted by the Islamic State group’s rule there almost a decade ago. On a recent visit to the United States, Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda outlined ways [...]
Amid the ongoing crackdown by President Daniel Ortegas’ Sandinista regime against the Catholic Church and political opponents, police authorities in Nicaragua have arrested yet another priest. Father Jaime Iván Montesinos Sauceda, of the Parish of San Juan Pablo II in the Diocese of Matagalpa, was arrested on Tuesday night, 23 [...]
A Bishop in Ethiopia has issued an impassioned plea for the resumption of talks between the government and rebel forces aimed at ending a conflict that has cost hundreds of lives and displaced tens of thousands of people. Bishop Varghese Thottamkara, Vicar Apostolic of Nekemte, told Aid to the Church [...]
Aid to the Church in Need had a stand at the latest meeting of the Bishops’ Conference of Brazil, the largest Catholic country in the world. The pontifical foundation used the opportunity to spend time with the bishops of needy dioceses, but also to share stories of Christian suffering from [...]
A police officer who was doing security work for a Catholic school for girls in north-eastern Pakistan opened fire on a group of teachers and students, killing two young girls, one of whom was only nine years old. Five other girls, and one adult woman were injured in the shooting, [...]
The archbishop of one of the world’s most perilous dioceses has described how he has five guard dogs to protect him at home and travels around with an armed escort. Archbishop Matthew Ndagoso of Kaduna, in northern Nigeria, gave Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) a glimpse into life [...]
