Maiduguri, Nigeria-“Over 40% of the city is under water,” says bishop

Aid to the Church in Need has committed to helping the Diocese of Maiduguri, struck by terrible flooding, with the provision of food, sanitation, medicine, and shelter. The Catholic auxiliary bishop of Maiduguri, in Nigeria, has issued an appeal for prayer and help in the wake of devastating floods that are affecting the city in …

Project of the Week – India

Help for the training of 22 seminarians The Catholic Church in Northeast India is still relatively young and only began to take root around the end of the 19th century. In many parts of the region, the Catholic presence dates back no more than a few decades. One of the younger dioceses in this part …

Nigeria: Aid to the Church in Need asks for prayers for those affected by flooding in Maiduguri

The Nigerian city of Maiduguri, known for having been the hub of Boko Haram activities, is currently grappling with a devastating flood that has engulfed major areas of the metropolis, including St. Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral. This catastrophic event is said to have been caused by damage to the Alau Dam, located a few kilometres from …

Burkina Faso: “As a pastor, my heart bleeds”

In only a decade, Burkina Faso has become an epicentre of terrorist violence, with over 40% of the country’s territory outside of government control. The Catholic Church is one of the institutions that provides material and spiritual support in this situation. Two Burkinabe priests from one of the dioceses that has been hardest hit by …

Pope Francis expresses great concern at growing attacks on religious freedom, following ACN report

The Holy Father thanked Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) for its report which points to a decrease in religious freedom, and said he is praying for all those who are persecuted for their faith. Pope Francis was given a copy of the Religious Freedom in the World Report for 2023, published by the …

ACN Success Story – Brazil

A riverboat for an Amazonian parish The Diocese of Humaitá lies deep in the Amazon region and serves a vast area of around 135,000 km². Most of it is covered by rainforest, however, and is only sparsely populated. Many of the communities lie on the riverbanks and can only be reached via water. The river …

Aid to the Church in Need denounces new Islamist massacres

In Burkina Faso, Jihadists killed 26 people in a church, many of them Christians. (Cover Photo: in 2022, Jihadist attack in the Minor Seminary St. Kizito where this crucifix was vandalized.) Local sources (that we keep anonymous to preserve their safety) have told the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) of …

Chaldeans in Georgia: A living legacy

ACN is helping the Chaldean Catholics in Georgia, who have suffered much over the years on account of their Catholic faith. “Nobody talked about God at all,” says Ilona Bilianova as she remembers growing up in the USSR. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, and the daughter of an officer in the Soviet Army, Ilona spent much …

Burkina Faso – Over 150 killed in a terrorist attack

In Burkina Faso, over 150 were killed in one of the deadliest attacks in the history of the country. The Bishop of Kaya calls for a day of mourning and three days of prayer for the victims.  On August 24, the town of Barsalogho in Burkina Faso was the target of a terrorist attack which killed …

Interview — “God was with me in this struggle.”

Unjustly imprisoned for eight years in Pakistan Shagufta Kausar was falsely accused of blasphemy. For almost eight years she was separated from her family, her husband was beaten and tortured, and they were pressured to convert to Islam. Now free, she tells in an interview with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) how she …