A pilgrim image of Our Lady of Fátima, blessed by Pope Paul VI in 1967, was recently at the international head office of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in Königstein im Taunus, Germany. ACN International’s executive president, Regina Lynch, stressed the connection between the charity and the message of Fátima, referring to the …
Category archives: ACN International
Breaking News-Burkina Faso-Catechist kidnapped and killed
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 …
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SAT-7: a lifeline of faith for Christians in Muslim-majority countries
The ecumenical Christian broadcaster runs several channels, in three different languages, and reaches millions of people with its satellite transmissions. Christians are a small minority in the Gulf Kingdom of Oman and almost all of them are foreign workers. So when Kurt Johansen, the executive director of Christian broadcaster SAT-7, told his hotel receptionist what …
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Pope Francis requests prayers for the “martyrs of our day”: their witness “is a blessing for everyone.”
“The courage of the martyrs, the witness of the martyrs, is a blessing for everyone,” the Holy Father reflects in The Pope Video for March. This video is being promoted by the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network, produced in collaboration with Pontifical Charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which support Christians wherever they are …
War trauma affecting the heart of Ukrainian society, says head of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
Ukraine – Ten years after the beginning of the war in Ukraine, ACN will dedicate its 2024 Lent to standing by the suffering Church in the country and helping it bring God’s healing love. Speaking during a conference organized by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) to mark the anniversary of the beginning of …
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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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 …
Aid to the Church in Need welcomes release of priests in Nicaragua
But concerns over lack of religious freedom remain. Nineteen clerics were released and expelled from the country, adding to the dozens of others who have been exiled in the past few years. The restrictions on religious freedom continue in a country where four out of nine dioceses now have bishops living abroad, says Regina Lynch, …
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Authoritarian regimes crack down on Church
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 …
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