His Beatitude Ibrahim Sidrak, the Coptic Catholic patriarch of Alexandria, heads the small Coptic Catholic Church, which has around 300,000 faithful. In an interview with the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), he shared his concerns and joys over his country, which has become a refuge for many Christians from other countries. …
Category archives: Africa
ACN Success Story – Zambia
Help for the training of 12 Spiritan seminarians The Holy Ghost Fathers (Congregation of the Holy Spirit, CSSp.) – also known as the Spiritans – were founded in 1703 in France. Today, its members are present in over 60 countries, evangelizing and ministering to the poor and to those on the margins of society, especially …
Nigeria – How a bishop became a bridge between Christians and Muslims
When he converted to Christianity, at age 12, Gerald Musa’s father could scarcely have imagined that his son would become the first bishop of his influential Hausa ethnic group. (Cover photo : Bishop Gerald Mamman Musa of Katsina welcoming guests at the airport. On the right, Fr. Ikokwu Onwuchekwa.) Though mostly used nowadays to refer …
Continue reading “Nigeria – How a bishop became a bridge between Christians and Muslims”
Nigeria: Kidnapped priest goes free
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 …
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, …
Continue reading “ACN Success Story – Democratic Republic of the Congo”
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 …
Continue reading “DRC-Bishop calls on authorities to end the torment of the Congolese people”
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 …
Continue reading “New terrorist attacks in Northern Mozambique cause mass flight of civilians”
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 …
Continue reading “Nigeria – Heroic staff save pupils as gunmen attack Catholic school at night”
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 …
Continue reading “Nigeria – Leah Sharibu turns 21 in Boko Haram captivity”