The number of priests and religious kidnapped in 2024 increased, while the number arrested for reasons of persecution decreased. In total, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) registered 122 cases impacting priests and religious, including 13 murders, 38 kidnappings, and 71 held under arrest. Ten of these incidents involved women, eight of whom were …
Continue reading “Being a priest today: One of the most dangerous missions in the world”
The diocese of Maroua-Mokolo in the Far North Region of Cameroon has suffered sporadic attacks from Boko-Haram. Msgr. Bruno Ateba shares with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) his hope for the future through spiritual and educational formation programs, especially for young people and families. He also explains the importance of translating the Bible …
Continue reading “Cameroon: It’s not weapons which will defeat Boko Haram, but education and hope”
“Many people are fleeing their villages,” says missionary Fr. Marcelo Oliveira accuses neighbouring countries of instigating the violence taking place in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where rebel groups did not even respect a Christmas truce. (Cover photo: in 2017, victims of M23 set camp in Goma outskirts). Christmas was a difficult …
Just over a year after extremists murdered more than 300 people in coordinated attacks targeting Christian villages in Plateau State, Nigeria, the faithful gathered for a special Mass to remember the victims last Sunday (January 5). Cover photo: December 2023, one of the many funerals service for the victims of the massacre. Bishop Michael Gobal …
Continue reading “Nigeria: Memorial Mass for massacred Christians”
ATTENTION, update: the two religious sisters were released on January 13. Thank you for your prayers, and please continue to pray for those oppressed by kidnapping. Two religious sisters, Vincentia Nwankwo and Grace Okoli, were abducted this past Tuesday, January 7 in Anambra State in southeastern Nigeria. They belong to the congregation of the Sisters …
Continue reading “Nigeria: prayers requests for two abducted sisters in Anambra”
Supporting the seminarians of the Apostolic Vicariate of Mongo Chad is a landlocked country in Central Africa, on the southern edge of the Sahara. Its surface area is almost 1.3 million square kilometres (by comparison, Quebec is 1.7 million km²), but with just over 16 million inhabitants, the country is relatively sparsely populated. The majority …
Cabo Delgado was the area most affected by the fury of Cyclone Chido, which swept through Mozambique in the early hours of Sunday, December 15, after causing destruction in the French archipelago of Mayotte. There are dozens of fatalities and thousands of people asking how they will survive after having lost everything. In an initial …
New chapels for two remote villages Malawi, a landlocked country of Southern Africa, is among the poorest countries in the world. The parish of Benga lies in the east of the country, close to Lake Malawi, in a region of great poverty. Though only established in 2013, the parish has already witnessed 6,000 baptisms. Still, …
Montreal/Königstein, November 28, 2024 – Press Release Since 2015, Burkina Faso, which is around 25% Christian, has become a hotbed of violent Islamist extremism. Since 2019 in particular, priests, religious, and faithful have been increasingly targeted by terrorists. Pontifical Charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) will focus its Christmas campaign this year on …
Strengthening pastoral outreach in the parish of Manica The parish of Our Lady of the Rosary is based in Manica in the Diocese of Chimoio in central western Mozambique. It covers an extensive rural area with a radius of around 70 km and includes 74 smaller villages and hamlets, 58 of which have their own …
