Local community leaders say that the attacks followed tactics similar to those employed by armed bandits responsible for the Christmas massacres in Nigeria. Religion is a factor in the conflict which also has ethnic and economic roots. (Archive photo: a woman in tears after the attacks of Christmas 2023. This Easter time, the same scenario …
Continue reading “Brutal murders of Christians in Nigeria’s Middle Belt continue”
Five years after the Easter bombings, thousands of faithful have signed a petition addressed to Cardinal Malcom Ranjith, asking him to open a Cause for Beatification for the 171 Catholics killed in that tragic event. Cover photo: parishioners pray before a statue of the risen Christ, stained with the blood of the martyrs of Easter …
Continue reading “Sri Lanka-A town stands as a witness to the Resurrection after persecution”
Six bishops from the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have written an “assessment of the pastoral and social situation” of the country, following a meeting which took place in Butembo, from April 8-14, and which paints a bleak picture of the state of the country and denounces how “the dignity of …
Help for the training of 14 seminarians in Sarajevo Many of the Catholics in Bosnia and Herzegovina have now left their country. In fact, their numbers have halved since the last Bosnian War, which ended in 1995. Today, there are only around 400,000 Catholic faithful left, accounting for barely 15% of the total population. Sadly, …
Continue reading “ACN Project of the Week – Bosnia and Herzegovina”
In December, Maxime François-Marsal, head of section for Aid to the Church in Need (ACN)’s French-speaking countries in Central Africa, travelled to Congo-Brazzaville, also known as the Republic of the Congo—a nation which borders Angola, Cameroon, Central African Republic, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In this interview, he speaks about the situation of …
Aid to the Church in Need expresses its deepest concern and sorrow following the kidnapping and subsequent killing of the catechist Édouard Yougbare from the parish of Saatenga in Fada Gourma, Burkina Faso. The catechist was abducted last night by terrorists and his lifeless body was found near Zigni this morning. According to local sources …
Continue reading “Breaking News-Burkina Faso-Catechist kidnapped and killed”
A bishop from Equatorial Guinea reflects on the causes and consequences of migration on the African continent and calls for a more effective focus on the fight against poverty and illegal emigration. At least 8,565 people died on migratory routes all over the world in 2023, making it the deadliest year on record, according to …
Continue reading “Africa: Poverty, main driver of migration”
For a year, the “war of the generals” has been raging across an already weakened country. The population is in agony and the small Christian community is shrinking away. “I once again ask the conflicting sides to stop this war, which is so harmful to the people and to the future of the country. Let …
Continue reading “Sudan – One year of war has left the country without any seminarians”
Subsistence support for 28 religious sisters The Diocese of Kribi lies in the south of Cameroon, on the Gulf of Guinea. It covers an area of over 11,000 km² and roughly half of its 250,000 inhabitants are Catholic. There are 28 religious sisters in the diocese from eight different congregations caring for those in need, …
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is helping the local Church serve new and growing communities of people who are moving from rural to urban areas, often in poor conditions. Millions of people continue to flock from rural areas in the remote Amazon region of Brazil to larger cities, hoping to find a better …
Continue reading “Brazil-Rapid urbanization poses pastoral challenges in the Amazon”
