SIERRA LEONE: ‘They took God out of the solution when God is the solution’

In Sierra Leone, Doctors and Scientists who dealt with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic adapted some measures used during the Ebola epidemic to prevent a repeat of the tragedy that killed 3,590 people between 2014 and 2016 and traumatized the country. Father Peter Konteh, director of Caritas in Freetown, [...]

2021-09-29T15:21:26+02:00

Action needed to stop exodus of Christians from biblical homelands

Advocates say action is needed to stop the hemorrhaging of Christians from their biblical homelands, particularly Lebanon and Iraq, as safety, poor governance and economic crises imperil their future. Maronite Catholic Bishop Gregory Mansour, who heads the Eparchy of St. Maron of Brooklyn, New York recounted Lebanon’s distinct history and [...]

2021-09-29T15:17:16+02:00

VATICAN: Afghan Christian families recount how they hid their faith for years

Last week, before his Wednesday general audience, Pope Francis received in the hall of the Paul VI Hall, three Afghan Christian families. Through tears, they recounted their story to the Holy Father about how they hid their faith for years.  One teenager had sent the pontiff his shirt days before. [...]

2021-09-29T14:53:45+02:00

NIGERIA: Pope prays for victims of deadly attacks

Suspected jihadists carried out several attacks in northwestern Nigeria over the weekend, leaving over 40 people dead. Pope Francis prayed for the victims of the attacks at the Wednesday General Audience, and called for the safety of all Nigerians to be protected. “I pray for those who have died, for [...]

2021-09-29T14:25:29+02:00

SYRIA: “It is an obligation for us to help the Christians of the Middle East”

Christian IDP’s from northern Syria need our help to survive in a country still suffering from international sanctions and the destruction left by the civil war in the country.  Trip of CRTN to Syria in August 2021Fr Hugo Alaniz (IVE - The Congregation of The Incarnate Word ) in [...]

2021-09-29T11:59:41+02:00

Mozambique Bishop: ‘Nobody asks for martyrdom, but it is something that can happen at any moment’

IN AN INTERVIEW WITH AID TO THE CHURCH IN NEED (ACN), Bishop Antonio Juliasse, the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Pemba, in the province of Cabo Delgado in northern Mozambique, a region that since 2017 has seen a rash of terrorist attacks. What is your assessment of your first [...]

2021-09-22T16:29:29+02:00

IRAQ: Extremists emboldened by Taliban takeover

The threat of ISIS and other extremists in Iraq has grown following the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan – according to one of the Middle East’s most respected bishops. Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil told leading Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that the [...]

2021-09-22T16:31:05+02:00

Afghan Christians recall experience with the Taliban

An Afghan Christian, whose parents were killed by the Taliban when he was eight, has given fresh insight into what Christians can expect following the extremist group’s takeover. Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Ali Ehsani, a 38-year-old lawyer now based in Italy, explained that the Taliban [...]

2021-09-22T13:20:32+02:00

WORLDWIDE: How a million children can change the world

On October 18 this year the international Catholic pastoral charity and pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN International) is once again inviting parishes, kindergartens, schools and families to join in the annual prayer initiative “A million children praying the Rosary”. It is a prayer campaign for peace and unity throughout [...]

2021-09-22T13:13:05+02:00

VIETNAM: Catholic family imprisoned for evangelization efforts

An ethnic Hmong Catholic family from Phinh Ho Parish based in Vietnam’s Yen Bai province have been kept in jail for spreading Catholic faith among villagers. The parish, founded by French missionaries in the early decades of the 20th century, is now home to 2,700 Hmong faithful from villages in [...]

2021-09-15T14:28:27+02:00