Renovation of the Coptic Catholic seminary in Maadi In Maadi, a suburb of Cairo, 28 young men are currently training for the priesthood at Egypt’s one and only Coptic Catholic seminary. They come from different parts of the country. Abba Romany Fawzy, the rector of the seminary explains: “The mission of the seminary is to …
Category archives: Near-East
ACN Project of the Week – Iraq
Subsistence aid for four monks in Karamles The ancient city (today a small town) of Karamles (or Karemlesh) is 29 kilometres south-east of Mosul in the Nineveh Plains region of northern Iraq. It is a mainly Christian town, with the majority belonging to the Chaldean Catholic Church. In August 2014, Karamles was overtaken by the …
“We don’t want any more bloodshed in Syria,” says Homs Melkite Greek archbishop
Archbishop Arbach has participated in the “Night of the Witnesses” in the cathedral of Madrid on March 14. Following the massacres that took place in Western Syria during the past weekend, which, according to available reports and estimates, left 1,000 dead, the archbishop of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archdiocese of Homs, Jean-Abdo Arbach, has told Aid …
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Aid to the Church in Need calls for intense prayer for Syria amid violence and uncertainty
Press release – For Immediate Release Königstein-Montreal, March 10, 2023 – Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) expresses its deep concern over the escalating violence in Syria, particularly in the coastal region, where hundreds of civilians have fallen victim to indiscriminate attacks. The situation has created an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty, also for …
In Lebanon, religious sisters help vulnerable girls rebuild their lives.
Sr. Marie: “We have seen plenty of improvement in these girls. They find meaning, and they can face the challenges life has for them.” On International Women’s Day, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) spoke to Sister Marie Akl, a religious from the Congregation of the Good Shepherd, about her valuable work in the …
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ACN Project of the Week – Lebanon
Mass intentions for the 34 priests of the Eparchy of Baalbek-Deir El-Ahmar The Eparchy (in the Eastern Catholic Churches, eparchies are equivalent to dioceses in the Latin Church) of Baalbek-Deir El-Ahmar covers the Bekaa Valley region in the east of Lebanon, an impoverished region of the country which for years now has been sliding ever …
Christians eager to help rebuild a Syria based on equal rights
The situation for Christians in Syria varies from city to city, according to local sources, and Christians have greeted with cautious optimism the transitional government’s guarantees to respect religious freedom. Christian leaders in Syria have expressed their willingness to work with the provisional government, following the overthrow of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, to build a new …
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Lebanon: between hope and uncertainty
Due to the massive destruction in the Bekaa Valley and in southern Lebanon, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN)’s emergency relief projects remain very significant for the country. “With the appointment of a new president, hope returned to Lebanon,” reports Marielle Boutros, project coordinator of the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in …
Gaza ceasefire: reaction of the Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land (ACOHL)
The Catholic Ordinaries of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (LPJ) have reacted to the ceasefire in Gaza. Please click on the link below to read an unofficial French translation, on the Patriarchate’s website. The official version is available in English and Italian. https://www.lpj.org/en/news/declaration-of-the-catholic-ordinaries-on-the-ceasefire-ingaza2025 Thank you for continuing to pray for lasting peace in the Holy Land.
The Church wants to offer a joyful Christmas in Gaza and elsewhere in the Holy Land
More than one year after the war began, Pope Francis continues to phone the Catholic parish in Gaza every day and has become a grandfather figure to the children, says Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa. The Latin patriarchate of Jerusalem continues to give as much support as it can to the small Christian community in Gaza, as …