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 …

Project of the Week – India

Help for the training of 22 seminarians The Catholic Church in Northeast India is still relatively young and only began to take root around the end of the 19th century. In many parts of the region, the Catholic presence dates back no more than a few decades. One of the younger dioceses in this part …

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 …

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 …

India – Seminarian ministering in dangerous jungle ordained priest

A brave Catholic seminarian who spent his pastoral placement ministering in India’s remote, cobra-infested jungle has been ordained last Sunday. Then Deacon Santosh Kumar has been ministering in the parish Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Kalapahad, North Andaman, where parishioners regularly walk 6 km through dangerous forests to attend Sunday Mass. But Deacon Kumar and …

ACN Success Story – India

A pastoral centre for the Diocese of Diphu The Diocese of Diphu lies in the state of Assam in the far northeast of India. This is a region of great poverty, where a variety of Indigenous tribes traditionally live. Most of them still adhere to their traditional tribal religions. The number of Catholic faithful in …

India-ACN concerned at reports of increased persecution of Christians

With elections only weeks away in the world’s most populated country, local human rights organizations are warning of a rise in intolerance and of attacks on religious freedom. The international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) expresses its deep concern over reports that are emerging from India, pointing to an increase in …

ACN Project of the Week – India

A chapel in the village of a vast parish The parish of the Immaculate Conception in Moharpara, in northeast India, lies close to the border with Bangladesh. It includes 31 different villages and serves a population of around 5,000 Catholics, most of them relatively young in age. The parish is vast, and many of the …

India-Church rejoicing that martyrs now on road to sainthood

An Indian archbishop has expressed delight that the Vatican has opened the cause of canonization of martyrs killed during one of the most violent outbreaks of Christian persecution this century.   The cause has been opened of Catholic catechist Kanteswar Digal and 34 others who died when Hindutva extremists attacked Christians in Kandhamal, Odisha (formerly …

India, Manipur – Pray for an end to the suffering!

A Catholic archbishop in northeast India, who has seen his diocese at the centre of a wave of deadly attacks, has issued an urgent appeal for prayers “to transform the minds of the people who are led by hatred and religious violence”. In a letter to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Archbishop Dominic …