Chinese communist authorities have ordered poor Christian villagers to remove Christian images from their homes and replace them with portraits of Chairman Mao and President Xi Jinping or risk losing their welfare benefits. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has continued its program of “Sinicization” of religion by channeling religious fervor [...]
Archbishop Paul Gallagher, the Vatican's foreign minister has told an online forum in mid-July that efforts to counter persecution were now required because the entire fabric of human rights was at stake -- even in the West -- if religious freedom continued to be attacked. He made his remarks on [...]
Archbishop Tobji: “The restoration of the Cathedral is proof that we are still in this country . Our mouths must continue to praise God in this place” On Monday 20 July, after many difficulties in the work of reconstruction, the Maronite Cathedral of Saint Elijah, which suffered severe damage from [...]
“Here in Damascus, everything has become so expensive!” So says Sister Joseph-Marie Chanaa. “The worsening plight of the people has forced me to get involved in the social sphere in order to help the poor and the suffering”, she adds – for originally she worked as a catechist. A member [...]
The executive president of ACN International, Dr. Thomas Heine-Geldern, has issued the following statement concerning the Turkish government‘s decision to allow Hagia Sophia in Istanbul to be used as a mosque: "ACN views the proposed reconversion of Hagia Sophia into a mosque with grave concern. Once again a religious issue [...]
In a positive step which is believed to be an answer to the prayers for Christians in Sudan, the government of Sudan has scrapped the death penalty for leaving Islam. Before now, anyone convicted of renouncing Islam, or apostasy, was sentenced to death, in line with the apostasy law. The [...]
A Priest, who is retiring from a Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) after 14 years risking his life to bring aid to the Church in need, has been named a modern-day Good Samaritan by Iraq’s most senior Christian leader. Monsignor Andrzej Halemba served as Aid to the Church [...]
The European Union (EU) has decided it will have a Special Envoy for Freedom of Religion, responding to calls from political and civil society fronts in Europe and abroad. The decision was announced on Wednesday 8 July by the European Commission (EC) Vice-president, Margaritis Schinas, prompting a sigh of relief [...]
A Nigerian cleric and spokesman of the Sharibu family has reacted to rumors that Leah Sharibu, the Christian schoolgirl held captive by Boko Haram for refusing to convert to Islam, had given birth to a baby boy fathered by a Boko Haram commander and had subsequently converted to Islam. Rev. [...]
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, 174 religious women supported by Aid to the Church in Need are involved in the valuable work of literally saving lives, every passing day. Co-founded by ACN’s Founder, Father Werenfried Van Straaten, the Sisters of the Daughters of the Resurrection congregation are saving malnourished [...]
