The only diocese in Mauritania has just celebrated its sixtieth anniversary. Bishop Victor Ndione, who has led the Diocese of Nouakchott for two years, speaks to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) about the challenges of being a pastor in a transit country affected by irregular migration. (Banner photo: Migrant workers in …
Continue reading “The challenges of ministering to a community of migrants”
The Vatican has officially confirmed that this coming April, Pope Leo will visit Algeria, making this the first-ever visit from a current pope. Leo XIV, who is an Augustinian by formation, will visit Algiers and Hippo Regius – the historical name of Annaba – following in the footsteps of St. Augustine. In this interview with …
The Cry of Gaza’s Parish Priest Although the media attention has died down since the ceasefire, the Gaza Strip continues to sink into an unprecedented humanitarian and health crisis. Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Gaza’s Catholic priest, Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, described the “very serious” conditions marked by the daily suffering of …
Continue reading ““It is absolutely essential that the war stops””
In the Diocese of Kharkiv-Zaporizhia, which sits in a war zone in Eastern Ukraine, the Church has dedicated itself to trauma healing among soldiers and civilians. Aid to the Church in Need (ACN)’s help is like the hand of God, says the bishop. Life in the diocese takes place against the constant background of the …
Continue reading “Ukraine: “We have so much pain in us, but we know we have to live.””
On the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, the editor-in-chief of the ACN Religious Freedom Report speaks about the upcoming edition and the importance of advocating for everyone who suffers for their faith. August 22nd marks the International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based …
Greek-Catholic Bishop of Donetsk’s message to ACN benefactors. At 45, the Ukrainian bishop, Maksym Ryabukha, is one of the youngest bishops in the world. He is also in charge of one of the most delicate territories in the world, east-central Ukraine, covering the regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia. Half of his exarchate – …
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Spokesman for the Archdiocese of Vrhbosna (Sarajevo): “Srebrenica is a message of how much pain human beings can inflict upon each other when they are full of hate” Thirty years ago, on July 11, 1995, at least 8,372 men were murdered by troops under Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, in the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica, …
Continue reading “Thirty years after Srebrenica, “Reconciliation is possible.””
“Six hundred and ninety-eight, six hundred and ninety-nine, seven hundred.” Mathieu passes pebbles from one side to another. Seven hundred in all, one for each of the Hail Marys he has prayed that night. A night which to him feels like the evening in Gethsemane, in the Garden of Olives, where Jesus also felt alone, …
Bishop Papias Musengamana of the Diocese of Byumba in Northwest Rwanda recently visited the international headquarters of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). He tells the pontifical charity how his diocese recovered from the almost complete absence of priests after the 1994 genocide and speaks about the meaning of pastoral work with families and …
Continue reading “Rwanda: “If we lose the young people, we lose society””
In December 2024, Verónica Katz, project director for Central America at international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), visited the dioceses on the Dominican side of the border with Haiti. In this interview, she shares her experience in the less visible areas of the Dominican Republic. When people think of the Dominican …
Continue reading “Beyond the Breathtaking Beaches: the Church on the Dominican Border”
