On 6 August 2014, the city of Qaraqosh fell into the hands of IS. The city, located on the Nineveh Plains, about 25 km outside of Mosul, was once considered the largest Christian city in the country. Christians living in this region of Iraq were forced to flee from their [...]

Celebrating Mass at the International Eucharistic Congress in Budapest, Hungary, on Sept. 10, Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich said that “faith in Europe has become a very small flame", praying that the continent would rediscover the missionary dimension of the faith. “Faith in Europe has become a very small flame, which in [...]

Father Giovanni Scalese was responsible for the only Catholic Church in Afghanistan, the Chapel of Our Lady of Divine Providence, located inside the Italian embassy. However, after the Taliban takeover, he had to leave the country. Fr. Scalese is a priest of the Order of Clerks Regular of Saint Paul [...]

Chinese authorities have launched a new strategy to limit religious activities considered illegal. According to the newspaper 'China Christian Daily', in Heilongjiang province, located in the northeast of the country, a system of rewards for those who make these reports came into effect recently, and may receive a sum of up [...]

The Church of the Assumption in the Chilean capital Santiago was one of the churches that was vandalised and burned out during the protests of 18 October 2020. According to the report on Religious Freedom Worldwide, published in April 2021 by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN International), no [...]

Reports received by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) and other agencies working closely with religious and other minorities leave us in no doubt about the scale of the crisis facing Christians in Afghanistan. Persecution had been a fear that dare not speak its name, as underground Christians, like so many minorities, have long been conditioned [...]

For many years Cameroon in Central-West Africa, with its 24 million inhabitants, has been regarded as a relatively stable country in comparison with its crisis-racked neighbours. However, in 2016 there were protest marches in the English-speaking region against a perceived marginalisation in this predominantly French-speaking country. Since then these protests [...]

At the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis calls Christians to show solidarity with the people of Afghanistan, especially women and children, the victims of violent attacks in recent days.  “I am following the situation in Afghanistan with great concern,” Pope Francis said on Sunday, adding, “I share in the suffering [...]

The Lebanese people are struggling to meet the basic needs of life. No gas, no electricity, no bread, no medicine, no security, no jobs, no future—and worst of all, people are fighting each other over a gallon of gas and loved ones are dying because of  a lack of medicine. [...]

For many years now the Catholic faithful in the village of Noyanagar have been longing for a new chapel as the tiny mud chapel they themselves built almost 30 years ago has become far too small for the growing community. Besides, the walls have deep cracks and the rain is [...]