Bishop Osorio Citora, Bishop of Quelimane, was shot dead in the early hours of this morning, June 6, and his body was found in a corridor of the episcopal residence. The perpetrator of the crime remains unknown. In an initial official statement sent to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the President of the …
Category archives: Breaking News
Lebanon: “Missiles are flying over our heads”
Over 30,000 displaced as violence escalates in Lebanon Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has remained in contact with project partners in the areas affected by airstrikes, assessing the need for emergency assistance. (Banner photo: archive from May 2025, when the southern region of the country was hit by destructive bombardments.) Nearly 30,000 people …
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Christians Call for Peace and Prayers as Violence Returns to Aleppo
Civilians are once again the main victims as the Kurdish-led SDF and forces loyal to the government in Damascus try to take control of the country’s second most important city. The Church has opened the doors of its buildings to displaced families. Christians in Aleppo, Syria, are calling for prayers from the international community as …
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Armed attack and mass kidnapping at Catholic Schools in Niger State
The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora has reported a violent overnight attack on St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Niger State, Nigeria, resulting in “the kidnapping of pupils, students, teachers, and school personnel, as well as a security guard who was badly shot.” According to the statement sent to Aid to the Church …
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New mass abduction of schoolgirls in northern Nigeria
The attack represents “a major blow to the education of young girls, which is already quite rare in these parts of the country,” say local sources. The abduction of around 25 students from the Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, in Nigeria’s north-western state of Kebbi, has plunged the community into deep shock. A …
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Nigeria: Priest abducted in the Archdiocese of Kaduna
The West African nation has been classified as suffering from severe, systematic and ongoing religious freedom violations. (Cover image: AI-generated image for illustrative purposes only). Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has received an official communication from the Archdiocese of Kaduna, Nigeria, reporting the abduction of a priest following a violent attack on the …
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ACN expresses solidarity with Cuba after the devastating passage of the hurricane
The organization Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) expresses its deep sorrow and closeness to the Cuban people following the passage of the powerful hurricane that has struck the eastern region of the country, leaving behind a catastrophe of enormous proportions. Although the material damage has been immense in both cities and rural areas, …
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Christian clergy in Gaza defies evacuation orders to remain with their flocks
In a joint statement, the Latin Catholic and Greek Orthodox Patriarchs of Jerusalem call on both parties to end hostilities and allow families on both sides to begin to heal the wounds of war. (Photo of the banner: Already in 2024, people in Holy Family Parish were praying for peace.) Both the Catholic and the …
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Nigeria – New Wave of Attacks
Dozens Killed, Priests Targeted, in Nigeria’s Middle Belt A series of brutal attacks on communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt have left at least 36 people dead, with several others injured or abducted, according to reports received by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) from the Diocese of Makurdi. The wave of …
Haiti’s Way of the Cross continues: Two religious sisters murdered
Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) deeply regrets the tragic loss of two religious sisters from the Congregation of the Little Sisters of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, who were brutally murdered on Monday, March 31, by armed gangs in Mirebalais, around 50 kilometres northeast of the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. Sisters Evanette …
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