Red Wednesday 2026 in Canada: Join in solidarity today!

Press Release Montreal, June 18, 2026 – In exactly 5 months, on November 18, churches, monuments, schools, and buildings across Canada will be illuminated in red for Red Wednesday, a global initiative to raise awareness about religious persecution and freedom of religion. Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Canada is pleased to announce that …

Statement by the president of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN)

”Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has received with deep concern the urgent appeal issued by His Excellency Archbishop Georges Iskandar, Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop of Tyre, regarding the growing insecurity affecting the city of Tyre in Southern Lebanon and, in particular, its historic Old Quarter. At this critical moment, ACN expresses its solidarity …

Pope and African bishops decry murder of Mozambican prelate

Bishop Osório Citora Afonso was a friend and collaborator of ACN, and the charity has expressed its deep sorrow following news of his death. Two days after the murder of the bishop of Quelimane, in Mozambique, on June 6, reactions continue to pour in, though motives for the killing remain a mystery. The day of …

Mozambique: Bishop of Quelimane Shot Dead at the Episcopal Residence Early This Morning

Bishop Osorio Citora, Bishop of Quelimane, was shot dead in the early hours of this morning, June 6, and his body was found in a corridor of the episcopal residence. The perpetrator of the crime remains unknown. In an initial official statement sent to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the President of the …

Nigeria: Bishop welcomes arrests in school kidnapping case

“The families will be relieved and happy to hear that those who planned the abduction of their children have been arrested. This is truly good news,” says Bishop Bulus Yohanna. (Banner: In February 2026, religious leaders held a press conference against terrorism and asked for the government to act.) Bishop Bulus Dauwa Yohanna of Kontagora, …

“Church has to be about more than feelings”

As secularism grows across the Caribbean and more young people drift away from the Church, Archbishop Gabriel Malzaire of Saint Lucia believes Christians must rediscover a deeper and more resilient faith – one that goes beyond emotions and passing trends. The Caribbean islands that form the Antilles may seem like paradise most of the year, …

“Your presence is a mission”

New Chaldean Patriarch to Iraqi Christians In a message to Paul III Nona, ACN’s executive president recalled the sufferings of the Chaldean faithful in Iraq, who “have so often been called to bear witness to their Christian faith in times of persecution and suffering.” The new patriarch of the Chaldean Catholic Church was officially installed …

Anti-Christian attacks on an upward trend

The number of churches attacked or vandalized in Europe and the Americas continues to rise, but Christians are often unaware of the legal tools available to combat discrimination and persecution—or, even when they are aware, they rarely make use of them. (Banner: The historic parish church of La Asunción, located in downtown Santiago, Chile, was …

War brings both hope and despair to Lebanon

Archbishop Hanna Rahme, of Baalbek Deir El-Ahmar, in Lebanon, seeks to keep up evangelization efforts, welcome refugees, live alongside the Shias, and encourage hope in the midst of constant crises and successive wars. The congregation of the Monks of Beit Maroun, Servants of the Cedar of Lebanon, is a new congregation founded in 2019, composed …

DRC: Bells announce life

In Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), when the people hear the church bells, they know there is life in the village Residents of Bukavu feel abandoned by the international community. But they know that if they flee, the M23, an armed rebel group backed by Rwanda, will take over their lands. (Banner: Image created with …