Supporting the prison apostolate in the Archdiocese of Guayaquil Overall, violence is growing alarmingly in Latin America. Ecuador is the sixth worst among the countries affected by this problem. In the years 2021 to 2022 alone, the number of killings increased by over 80%. In the port city of Guayaquil, which has close to three …
Author archives: mariobard
Venezuela marks 140 years of the first Lourdes pilgrimage in the Americas
The pilgrimage was instituted in 1884 by Fr. Machado, the Venezuelan priest in the Diocese of La Guaira, after returning from a trip to the famous shrine to Our Lady of Lourdes in France. Tony Pereira, a lay member of the current organizing committee, spoke to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) about the …
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Thirty Christians have died to date as humanitarian situation worsens
Holy Land – Gaza Strip According to sources contacted by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the humanitarian situation and living conditions for the small Christian community which remains in the Gaza Strip has deteriorated in recent months. In the four months since the beginning of the conflict, 30 Christians have died in Gaza. …
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José Si Esono, the catechist who gave his life for the faith
Central Africa – Equatorial Guinea During a visit to the head office of Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishop Miguel Angel Nguema Bee, from the Diocese of Ebebiyin, recounted the moving story of the first catechist to be martyred in Equatorial Guinea. His name was José Si Esono and the local …
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ACN Project of the Week-Cameroon and Central African Republic
Help for the training of 42 young Carmelites Even as a child, Jean-Thierry Ebogo had nurtured a secret dream – to be like Jesus! And to do so, he planned to become a priest. It was the year 2003 when as a young man, he finally entered the Carmelite monastery of Nkoabang in Cameroon. He …
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ACN – Earthquake in Syria: More than $1.82 million of funding
Speaking one year after the terrible earthquake that affected Syria and Turkey, Xavier Stephen Bisits, ACN’s head of section for Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt, summed up the impact of the natural disaster: “February 6 was a turning point in the life of most families in Northern Syria. I will never forget the scenes in the …
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Syria: “The situation is intolerable”
On the first anniversary of the earthquake, a bishop in Aleppo calls for an end to sanctions and appeals to people not to forget the country. The Armenian Orthodox bishop of Aleppo in Syria, Magar Ashkarian, has called for an end to the sanctions imposed on Syria, saying “most people are leaving the country in …
Dont forget Myanmar
On the third anniversary of coup, ACN calls on the world not to forget Myanmar Pope Francis has said that the real treasure of Myanmar is its people. As civil conflict worsens, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) supports the repeated calls of the local Catholic Church for peace and justice, not only for …
ACN Success Story-Madagascar
A church for a parish in the rainforest The parish of Ampangalantsary lies in the east of the island of Madagascar in a region of rainforest. For many years now, the Catholic faithful here have longed for a church of their own, for until recently, they had to walk distances of at least five kilometres …
Haiti – Six kidnapped sisters released
The archdiocese of Port-au-Prince confirmed that the six religious sisters abducted in Haiti last week were freed yesterday (January 24th). The Sisters of Saint Anne and their two companions were held captive for five days after being kidnapped by unidentified gunmen on Friday, January 19th while travelling in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital. The archdiocese said …