“I was lost, and I am found. I was dead, and I am alive again.” The words of a captured priest liberated in Mali

“I was lost, and have been found. I was dead, and I am alive again.” These were the words of gratitude expressed by Fr. León Douyon, a Catholic priest from the town of Ségué in the diocese of Mopti, in Mali, after having been liberated on 13 July this year [...]

2021-07-28T13:40:35+02:00

ZIMBABWE: A true treasure for the children of the Kalanga tribe

Most people have lifelong memories of their first child’s Bible – Adam and Eve in Paradise, Noah’s Ark, the birth of Jesus in the stable, the wedding feast in Cana, the miraculous multiplication of loaves– all these stories and images become imprinted on our hearts.  In order that as many [...]

2021-07-28T13:24:39+02:00

SYRIA: Mothers and children scavenge for food in bins

Food shortages are so dire in Syria that women and children are scavenging for food in bins, says Sister Annie Demerjian, a long standing partner of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Explaining that the deepening economic crisis means people in Syria are “surviving on one meal a day [...]

2021-07-28T13:05:54+02:00

‘At every time, you could be a target’: Despite danger, Nigerian priest ministers to refugees of terrorism

Father Joseph Bature Fidelis of the Diocese of Maiduguri is aware of the danger priests face from local Islamist terror groups. “From the onset, when we chose to stay back with our people, we knew the danger of what it means to be a priest in such an area,” said [...]

2021-07-21T14:50:25+02:00

From child soldier to Catholic priest: Father Mbikoyo lives to give hope to the hopeless

A Catholic priest is returning to the land where he was once abducted to “give hope to those who have lost hope.” For the past seven years Fr. Charles Mbikoyo has studied philosophy at the Pontifical Urban University in Rome but his story starts in what is now South Sudan, [...]

2021-07-21T14:47:03+02:00

IRAQI ARCHBISHOP: We must ensure ISIS genocide is not repeated

Grateful for aid to Iraqi Christian genocide victims, the Chaldean Catholic archbishop of Erbil says more must be done to ensure the ISIS genocide is not repeated. “The help was there, and that’s really made a big difference,” Archbishop Bashar Warda of the Chaldean Catholic Archeparchy of Erbil told CNA [...]

2021-07-21T14:25:40+02:00

INDIA: Training lay leaders for the family apostolate

The diocese of Tura, in the state of Meghalaya in northeast India, began very modestly when it was first founded in 1973, with just four parishes and around 40,000 Catholic faithful. Today it has 45 parishes, and the number of Catholics has likewise increased massively. The majority of the population [...]

2021-07-14T12:32:16+02:00

Message from kidnapped Nun: “Pray a great deal for me”

A handwritten note sent by a kidnapped nun to her brother has come to light, in which she appeals for prayer for an end to her four-year ordeal at the hands of jihadists. Sister Gloria Narváez Argoti, 57, who was abducted in Mali, sent the letter to Edgar Narváez Argoti, [...]

2021-07-14T12:24:33+02:00

MALI: Joy at the release of Priest kidnapped more than three weeks ago

The pontifical foundation ACN confirms the release of Father Leon Douyon, Catholic priest from Ségué in the Mopti region of Mali, yesterday afternoon, Tuesday 13 July. In a message received by the ACN foundation, Mgr Jean-Baptiste Tiama, Bishop of Mopti, expressed his joy at the news: “Our brother Léon Douyon [...]

2021-07-14T12:21:01+02:00