Ewelina Ochab urges: “The day can help to educate, but action is needed.”

Fifth anniversary of the International Day Commemorating Victims of Violence Based on Religion or Belief. (Cover photo: The Night of the Witness 2022 in Canberra, Australia). 22 August 2024 marks the fifth anniversary of the International Day Commemorating Victims of Violence Based on Religion or Belief, established by the United Nation (UN) General Assembly in …

Iraq, August 6, 2014: one story, one hundred thousand faces (2)

Story written by Maria Lozano, director of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International’s Press and Media Department. In it, we read the testimonies of the people that the ACN delegation was able to meet, shortly after the invasion of the Nineveh Plains by the Islamic State (IS). Here is Part 2, in which …

Iraq, August 6, 2014: one story, one hundred thousand faces (1)

Story written by Maria Lozano, director of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International’s Press and Media Department. In it, we read the testimonies of the people that the ACN delegation was able to meet, shortly after the invasion of the Nineveh Plains by the Islamic State (IS). In this first part, we recall …

Iraq – ACN Success Story

A minibus for pastoral work in Basra Today, Christians are only a very small minority in Iraq. Up until the year 2002—before the Third Gulf War—there were still over 1.2 million of them, but war, persecution, and poverty led to a mass exodus of the Christian population. Estimates today put the number of Christians remaining …

Iraq: “Christians are like olive trees. You can burn them, but they will still bear fruit.”

Many feared that the invasion of their homelands would drive Christians from Iraq for good, but ten years after being driven from their homelands by militants of the Islamic State (ISIS), thousands of Christians have returned to houses in the Nineveh Plains rebuilt with the help of ACN, taking with them their love for the …

Iraq – ACN helps Catholic school build a new kindergarten

Thanks to the generosity of Aid to the Church in Need’s benefactors, a growing Catholic school in Erbil was able to open a new kindergarten to accommodate the increasing number of children. Education is vital for the survival of Iraq’s long-suffering Christian community. Economic deprivation and unemployment are at present the biggest issues facing Christians …

ACN to focus on Middle East, Sahel, and Latin America in 2024

Regina Lynch, executive president of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), highlights the worrying increase in religious freedom violations around the world, but also the positive reaction to ACN campaigns such as Red Wednesday and One Million Children Praying the Rosary. You were nominated executive president in April 2023. What is your view for …

Iraq – “Please God, no more war.”

People in Iraq are terrified that the war in the Holy Land will engulf the region, according to a leading archbishop, who is calling on governments around the world to work to bring peace. These were the words he shared on November 3 during a visit to Westminster Abbey, which John Pontifex of our UK …

Conflict in the Holy Land (2)

Jerusalem, a city of peace in a state of war In East Jerusalem, which is home to around 10,000 Christians, the situation is also very difficult. Around 40% of them are also dependent on the tourism sector, and many have lost their jobs. The tourists have left, and the hotels that are not empty are …

Iraq – Tragic fire at wedding: “We cannot describe the pain,” says archbishop.

What should have been a symbol of hope for Christians in Iraq turned into a moment of despair. Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) asks all its benefactors to pray for those who died or were hurt, but also for the Christian community as a whole. The Christian community in Iraq has once again …