For more than 70 years, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has been involved with refugees and displaced people worldwide. In the face of growing migration, the international Catholic charity continues to bring hope through its projects in crisis zones of the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, and Europe. (Cover photo: migrants participate in …
Category archives: Asia
Project of the week – Brazil
A pastoral centre for the parish of Boqueirão The parish of Boqueirão belongs to the Diocese of Campina Grande in the impoverished northeast part of Brazil. It is around 60 years old and is dedicated to Nossa Senhora do Desterro (Our Lady of the Flight)—a reference to the flight into Egypt by Our Lady and …
Pakistan: Christian woman sentenced to death
Shagufta Kiran, mother of four, to appeal conviction A Christian mother of four in Pakistan has been sentenced to death for allegedly sharing blasphemous messages on WhatsApp. But legal advocates, supported by a leading Catholic charity, have vowed to appeal the conviction. Former nurse Shagufta Kiran, 40, was sentenced to death on Wednesday, September 18 …
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Chaldeans in Georgia: A living legacy
ACN is helping the Chaldean Catholics in Georgia, who have suffered much over the years on account of their Catholic faith. “Nobody talked about God at all,” says Ilona Bilianova as she remembers growing up in the USSR. Born in Tbilisi, Georgia, and the daughter of an officer in the Soviet Army, Ilona spent much …
Interview — “God was with me in this struggle.”
Unjustly imprisoned for eight years in Pakistan Shagufta Kausar was falsely accused of blasphemy. For almost eight years she was separated from her family, her husband was beaten and tortured, and they were pressured to convert to Islam. Now free, she tells in an interview with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) how she …
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India – ACN Success Story
A village chapel for a remote parish Last year, we presented you with a request from Father Arbok Lyngdoh of Moharpara in northeast India. He was asking for help on behalf of his faithful to build a new chapel in the village of Twichalong, just one of the 31 outlying communities belonging to his parish …
Project of the Week – Indonesia
Help to build a parish church in Compang The island nation of Indonesia, with its population of 272 million, is the most populous Muslim nation in the world. Other religious affiliations include Christianity, professed by at least 12% of the population. Of these, 3% are Catholic (10 million people), mainly living on the island of …
Pakistan: Church leaders applaud change to minimum marriage age
An amendment to the Christian Marriage Act means that girls and boys cannot marry below the age of 18. Though only a first step, this could make it easier to curb cases of abduction and forced marriage of Christian girls in the country. The Catholic Church in Pakistan has applauded the signing into law of …
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India: The elections and their consequences for Christians
On June 4, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), one of the major political parties in India, won its third election, extending Narendra Damodardas Modi’s tenure as leader of the country. What are the consequences of these results for the Christian community? In this interview, Father Pradeep, a Jesuit from the state of Jharkhand, shares his …
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Jesuits open first novitiate in Bangladesh with help from ACN
Thirty years after returning to Bangladesh, the Jesuits are opening a new novitiate on July 16 in the South Asian country, where Christians are a small minority. By allowing the novices to have their initial formation in their own culture and language, the Jesuits hope to promote vocations. (Photo: from the beginning, the construction process …
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