IDPs burned alive, shot dead and macheted Militants massacred up to 200 Christians in Nigeria’s Benue State on the night of Friday, June 13, targeting displaced families, setting fire to their buildings as they lay asleep inside and macheting anyone who tried to flee. The IDP families were in buildings repurposed as temporary accommodation in …
Continue reading “Nigeria: Up to 200 dead in worst killing spree”
Father Alphonsus Afina was kidnapped on Sunday, June 1, in the Diocese of Maiduguri. The auxiliary bishop of Maiduguri, Nigeria, has called for urgent prayers for one of his priests who was kidnapped by jihadist terrorists. In a message sent to Aid to the Church in Need – International (ACN), Bishop John Bogna Bakeni said …
Continue reading “Bishop calls for prayers as priest is kidnapped by jihadists in Nigeria”
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 …
Spring 2025, a New Magazine for ACN Canada Press Release – For Immediate Release Montreal, April 2, 2025 – Hope, the theme of Jubilee 2025, is at the heart of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) Canada’s new Spring 2025 Magazine, available on the national branch’s website at: https://acn-canada.org/magazine/. (Cover photo: a young seminarian from …
A plea for government in northern Nigeria to rethink the sudden and unprecedented closure of schools during Ramadan has come from a bishop concerned for the hundreds of thousands of children affected. Bishop Gerald Mamman Musa of Katsina (photo) said it came as “a complete surprise” when governors in his state as well as Kano, …
Continue reading “Nigeria: “Let our children go back to school””
The murder of seminarian Andrew Peter follows the recent killing of Fr Sylvester Okechukwu. Nigeria has had three times more kidnappings of clergy and religious in the first three months of 2025 than in the same period of 2024. (Cover photo: Pray to Christ on the cross for the suffering Church in Nigeria. Add your …
Continue reading “Nigerian Church in pain as 21-year-old seminarian murder”
Since 2021, at least one pastoral agent has been murdered every year in the Diocese of Kafanchan. The bishop of the Diocese of Kafanchan in Kaduna State, Nigeria, has expressed his “deep sorrow and righteous indignation” over the abduction and subsequent murder of one of his priests. Fr. Sylvester Okechukwu was abducted from his residence …
Continue reading “Sorrow and indignation over murder of Nigerian priest”
A total of five priests and two religious sisters have been kidnapped in Nigeria this year alone. Besides Fr. Sylvester Okechukwu, who was murdered, two remain missing, while the other four were released. (Cover photo: A destroyed crucifix in Burkina Faso, a country where the security situation for Christians is challenging too.) A Catholic priest …
In December—including on Christmas Day—a series of attacks on Christian communities left dozens dead, according to recent reports from local Church sources shared with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Dozens of Christians were killed in attacks at and around Christmas time in Nigeria, especially in Benue State. News of these attacks only recently …
Continue reading “Massacres spoil Christmas celebrations in Nigeria”
The number of priests and religious kidnapped in 2024 increased, while the number arrested for reasons of persecution decreased. In total, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) registered 122 cases impacting priests and religious, including 13 murders, 38 kidnappings, and 71 held under arrest. Ten of these incidents involved women, eight of whom were …
Continue reading “Being a priest today: One of the most dangerous missions in the world”
