Press Release – For Immediate Release Königstein-Montreal, Wednesday, June 21 – Pontifical Charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has released the latest edition of its Religious Freedom Report (RFR), which reveals that persecution has increased since January 2021, while impunity continues to reign for attackers, including oppressive governments. The RFR has been published …
Continue reading “Religious Freedom Report 2023: persecution worsens and impunity reigns”
Montreal, Thursday, June 15, 2023 – Pontifical Charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) presents its 2022 annual accounts which reflect a year of record support. Ukraine was the largest individual recipient of help for projects in 2022, receiving almost 10% of the aid, while Africa was the region that received the most support. …
Continue reading “Over 200 million dollars in donations for suffering Christians around the world”
The Catholic Church has been playing a discrete but important role around dialogue that could effectively end the plague of terrorist violence in northern Mozambique. Father Eduardo Roca, a project partner of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), founded the Interreligious Centre for Peace, in the Diocese of Pemba, in 2017—the same year terrorist …
A chapel for a remote village The more than 500 Catholic faithful in the village of Dakaya in the Apostolic Vicariate of Soddo (in the south of Ethiopia) are rejoicing because they finally have their own chapel. Thanks to the generosity of our benefactors, we were able to contribute $20,562 so that their new chapel …
One year after the attack on St. Francis Xavier church in Ondo, Nigeria, none of the culprits have been brought to justice. Victims wear their scars as “badges of honour” and their faith is as strong as ever. A Nigerian priest has called for the beatification of around 40 Christians who were killed in an …
Continue reading “Nigeria – Priest calls for the beatification of Pentecost Sunday attack victims”
A Catholic Archbishop who needs guard dogs in the house, and an armed escort when he travels, speaks of the difficulties of carrying out his mission in his diocese. Archbishop Matthew Ndagoso of Kaduna, in north-central Nigeria, leads one of the most dangerous dioceses in the world. You wouldn’t guess it, though, from his smile …
Continue reading “Nigeria: “Religion should unite us, not divide.””
Priests in war-torn Sudan are not abandoning their flocks despite the escalating conflict in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum, and throughout the Darfur region. Despite a ceasefire, violent clashes continued between the semi-official Rapid Support Forces and the Sudanese army, with civilian deaths topping more than 850 (23-05-2023). Speaking to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in …
Continue reading “Sudan – As fighting erupts, priests stay with their flocks”
The 21 martyrs—20 Egyptian and one Ghanaian—who were killed by Islamic State militants in Libya, in 2015, will be commemorated on the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church, making them the first saints to be honoured by both the Coptic Orthodox and Catholic Churches since their split following the Council of Chalcedon in 451AD. In …
Ongoing formation for 45 priests and deacons in the Diocese of Bouar The Central African Republic is one of the poorest and most underdeveloped nations in the world and continues to be plagued by constant unrest and coup attempts. Many areas of the country are being controlled by a variety of armed rebel groups. The …
Continue reading “Project of the Week – Central African Republic”
In the extreme conditions of the Congolese prison system, a priest is struggling to protect inmates from hunger and despair. Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) reports from the central prison in Bukavu, in the far east of the country (South Kivu region) on the work of the Church among these otherwise abandoned people. …
Continue reading “Democratic Republic of the Congo – A priest at the service of inmates”
