Nigerian priest Father Mikah Suleiman was released last night (Sunday, July 7) after more than two weeks in captivity. The parish priest of St. Raymond’s Catholic Church, in Damba, Zamfara State, had been abducted from his presbytery in Sokoto Diocese, North-West Nigeria, in the early hours of Saturday, June 22. In the days that followed, fears for …
Category archives: Africa
ACN Success Story – Democratic Republic of the Congo
10 motorcycles for pastoral work in rural parishes The Diocese of Boma lies in the west of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 35 of the 47 parishes that belong to it are located in remote rural areas. The priests minister to the faithful with joy and great zeal, but the distances are daunting, …
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ACN Project of the Week-Uganda
Help for the training of 30 seminarians The Diocese of Nebbi lies in the north of Uganda, in a region that suffered greatly from the internal warfare between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan government from 1987 to 2006. Whole areas of this region were devastated and destroyed, and the consequences are still …
DRC-Bishop calls on authorities to end the torment of the Congolese people
After new massacres in North-Kivu, Msgr. Sikuli Paluku, bishop of Butembo-Beni, in a message sent to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), denounced the atrocities committed by the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) since the beginning of June 2024. The bishop insists that there cannot be a separation between faith and the defence of human …
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New terrorist attacks in Northern Mozambique cause mass flight of civilians
Cabo Delgado was ravaged by two major militant offensives. Armed groups, allegedly linked to ISIS, targeted the town of Macomia and the villages of Cajerene and Missufine, exacerbating the region’s displacement crisis. As the violence escalates, the Church intensifies its humanitarian response in northern Mozambique. (Cover photo: in 2021, Internally Displaced People (IDPs) already fled …
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Nigeria – Heroic staff save pupils as gunmen attack Catholic school at night
Hundreds of children have been kidnapped from schools across Nigeria over the past years, but fortunately the latest attack on a catholic school was foiled and nobody was killed or abducted. The quick thinking of a headteacher helped save the lives of sleeping students after armed extremists stormed a secondary school in Nigeria’s Middle Belt …
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Nigeria – Leah Sharibu turns 21 in Boko Haram captivity
A jihadist captive turned 21 today (May 14th), six years after being abducted from her school in Nigeria and held hostage for refusing to renounce her Christian faith. (Cover photo: during a protest in 2018, a banner to request Leah’s liberation). On her birthday, a pastor close to Leah Sharibu’s family called on the Nigerian …
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ACN Project of the Week-Cameroon
Subsistence aid for three religious sisters The congregation of the Missionary Sisters of Divine Providence was founded in Nigeria in the year 2000. The sisters visit the sick and elderly in their homes, caring for them and bringing them Holy Communion. They also support families and women with practical help and advice and are active …
Burundi – Bishops denounce murders and abductions of citizens, saying the situation “makes one shudder.”
Human rights violations are widespread in Burundi, a small country which borders the much larger Democratic Republic of the Congo. For years, the country has been largely isolated from the outside world. Recently, the Burundian bishops drew attention to the country’s plight, which goes largely unnoticed by the general public. For decades, Burundi – a …
ACN Success Story – DRC
Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) Liturgical and theological literature for future priests There are presently 20 young men from the Diocese of Bokungu-Ikela who are training for the priesthood at various seminaries in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Their diocese, which covers an area of just over 40,000 km², is roughly the …