International solidarity in funding the rebuilding of schools, hospitals and churches destroyed by war is important, Pope Francis said, but “we need to be concerned above all for the living stones who have been wounded and dispersed.” From Iraq and Syria, then from the Holy Land through North Africa to [...]

The family of a Christian girl in Pakistan who was tethered with a rope and shackled round her ankles, are making a fresh start after Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) provided them with an auto-rickshaw. The vehicle, funded by ACN will enable Asif Masih, the father of 12-year-old [...]

Benefactors of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) responded to the covid-19 pandemic by donating more in 2020 than the previous year, as the Foundation rushed out emergency projects amid growing persecution. ACN thanks supporters, who helped priests, Sisters and lay workers tackling the coronavirus crisis, as the charity [...]

Since 2005 a group of Franciscan Capuchin friars from Kerala in India have been working as missionaries in Ghana in West Africa. At present they have four communities here, with their main centre in Kpassa, in the diocese of Jasikan. There are three friars living in this community, ministering to [...]

A historic Lebanese church – that sustained severe damage in August 2020’s devastating blast – is on track to reopen next month, thanks to help from a leading Catholic charity. The Jesuit-run church of St Joseph, which was built in 1875 and was badly hit when last year’s explosion ripped [...]

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) project partners denounce war conditions and inaction by the Nigerian government During the funeral ceremony in early June for Fr Alphonsus Bello Yashim, a Catholic priest murdered in Malfunashi, senior Church representatives denounced the current situation in northern Nigeria. In his sermon during [...]

Islamist violence is gaining more ground in Africa. "The rise of religious fundamentalism affects cohesion and stability in communities," says Bishop Traore, Bishop of Segou. In the fear of retaliation for not converting and embracing the Muslim religion, the danger is the tendency to retreat or to respond with violence [...]

A nun in Mozambique, who spent more than three weeks as a captive of jihadists, has raised the alarm about the growing numbers of children abducted by terrorists, many of whom are being forced to become child soldiers or brides. Father Kriwiwi Fonseca, a priest ministering to families displaced by [...]

Islamists from leading religious parties in Pakistan stand accused of inciting millions to kill a Christian couple and their lawyer. Saif ul Malook, who recently triumphed in the case of Shagufta Kausar and her husband Shafqat Emmanuel Masih, said influential Muslim hardliners have taken to social media to call on [...]

The targeting of young people, indiscriminate killings and widespread sexual violence – including the rape of nuns – is part of a genocide against the Tigrayan ethnic group of northern Ethiopia, according to a source close to the Church. The source, anonymous for security reasons, told Aid to the Church [...]