Dozens of priests arrested in 2023 Thirteen priests and one religious brother were murdered in 2023, though half were killed for reasons apparently unrelated to persecution. Arrests increased, while kidnappings of clergy and religious dropped compared to 2022. Nonetheless, these cases remain a serious concern, especially in Africa. According to the numbers collected by Pontifical …
Continue reading “Authoritarian regimes crack down on Church”
Pontifical Charity Aid to the Church in Need has announced a second package of emergency aid for Christians who lost their livelihoods because of the war in Gaza. Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) will be supporting the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem with $700,000 between January and April 2024, bringing the combined total amount …
Continue reading “Holy Land: Fresh aid offers hope to Christians living on the breadline”
Heating for the parish church in Zaslaŭje The small town of Zaslaŭje in Belarus is around 25 kilometres north of the capital Minsk. The Catholic parish here has around 400 faithful. Their 18th-century church of the Nativity of Mary was shut down in Soviet times and used as a dump, being badly damaged in the …
By evangelizing and helping the Ticuna Indigenous people, the Capuchin friars, with support from Aid to the Church in Need, are helping to preserve the Amazon rainforest. “I have never left this place, I know nothing of the world, but I believe in God. He gives me eternal life. I called the friars here to …
Continue reading “Brazil: Sowing the seeds of the Gospel in the Amazon”
Regina Lynch, executive president of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), highlights the worrying increase in religious freedom violations around the world, but also the positive reaction to ACN campaigns such as Red Wednesday and One Million Children Praying the Rosary. You were nominated executive president in April 2023. What is your view for …
Continue reading “ACN to focus on Middle East, Sahel, and Latin America in 2024”
A chapel in the village of a vast parish The parish of the Immaculate Conception in Moharpara, in northeast India, lies close to the border with Bangladesh. It includes 31 different villages and serves a population of around 5,000 Catholics, most of them relatively young in age. The parish is vast, and many of the …
Terrorists caused death and destruction during the Christmas holidays among the Christian communities in Bokkos, Barkin Ladi, and Mangu (but Bokkos was the epicentre) Plateau State, central Nigeria. The executive president of ACN, Regina Lynch, regrets yer another episode of violence against Christians in Nigeria. “This year began with the brutal murder of Fr Isaac …
Continue reading “Fulani herders kill nearly 200 Christians at Christmas in central Nigeria”
On behalf of the ACN Canada team, here is a greeting card for you! Please note that our offices are closed from December 25, 2023, to January 2, 2024. We’ll return on Wednesday, January 3, 2024, starting at 8:30 a.m. In the meantime, if you wish to donate, please visit https://acn-canada.org/christmas-2023/.
During an interview at the international head office of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Cardinal Dieudonné Nzapalainga from the Diocese of Bangui spoke about the attitude a Christian must have in the face of suffering as well as towards sisters and brothers in need. He also shared his experiences from the Synod on …
Continue reading “Cardinal Nzapalainga: “As a Christian, I must hear and see things differently.””
Margaret Attah—who lost both her legs and part of her vision in an attack on a church in western Nigeria—and Dominic Attah travelled to London to receive the award, presented by the UK office of Aid to the Church in Need. Two of the survivors of an attack that left 41 Christians dead and more …
