The legal outcome shows a “positive and rare” development, since local courts are often reluctant to acquit those accused of blasphemy, due to social pressure. Two Christian nurses in Pakistan have been acquitted of blasphemy in a landmark court ruling which brings an end to an ordeal of more than four and a half years. …
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Shagufta Kausar was sentenced to death for alleged blasphemy and spent over eight years in prison. She recently shared her story at the launching of the Religious Freedom in the World Report, in Rome. In the summer of 2013, a mob broke into the simple house where Shagufta Kausar lived with her paralyzed husband, Shafqat …
Two years after an atrocity described as the worst outbreak of violence against Christians in Pakistan’s 78-year history, the local bishop of the district has said that not one of the thousands of suspects has been brought to justice – and that he and his people are furious. Bishop Indrias Rehmat said Christians in …
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A minibus for pastoral work The Diocese of Mannar is situated in the northwest of Sri Lanka. A while ago, we received an appeal for help from the Vavuniya deanery, where a vehicle was urgently needed for pastoral work. The deanery includes 10 separate parishes, each of which serves several smaller villages. Altogether, there are …
A report compiled by Franciscan priest Lazar Aslam describes the plight of young girls and women who are subjected to rape, kidnapping, and forced marriage in a country where the law rarely affords Christians equal rights. (Banner photo: Published in 2022, the report Hear Her Cries highlighted the violence committed against women from religious minorities, …
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A new Marian shrine in Balasore In November 2023, the cathedral parish of Balasore in eastern India celebrated the Golden Jubilee of its founding. At that time, the desire was born within the community to establish a Marian shrine within the cathedral grounds. There was previously no place where the faithful could gather to express …
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 22-year-old Christian man, Waqas Masih, was brutally attacked by his supervisor, Zohaib, at the Subhan Paper Mills factory located in Sheikhupura, Pakistani Punjab. The incident, which took place on March 22, highlights the persistent religious intolerance present in much of Pakistani society. According to reports from the victim’s family received by the international Catholic …
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March 15 2025 marked the tenth anniversary of the death of Akash Bashir, a 20-year-old Catholic who sacrificed his life to save hundreds of people when he intercepted a suicide bomber trying to access the church of Saint John, in Youhanabad, in the Diocese of Lahore, Pakistan. That act led to his being raised to …
A newly constructed presbytery for a young parish The parish of Chondonpara in the Diocese of Tura in eastern India is still very new, having only been founded in October 2024. The new presbytery was inaugurated at the same time, thanks to the generosity of our benefactors, who donated $60,000 for this purpose. They celebrated …
