According to leading Church figures, over 100 people have been killed and 90,000 displaced in the Taraba State region since September 2025. (Photo of the banner: A man bearing the flag of Nigeria.) Following a fresh massacre, the Church in Nigeria’s Middle Belt has again called for action to address extremist violence. On Tuesday, February …
Continue reading “Church calls for tighter security after 10 slaughtered”
The bishops have asked for the release of political prisoners, for oil revenues to be applied to help the lower classes, and for the country’s sovereignty to be respected. The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) joins the bishops of Venezuela in their request that all sectors of the country work together …
Continue reading “Venezuela – Call for unity for national reconciliation”
The New Year has not begun peacefully in Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Kontagora. Just as the final days of 2025 were marked by violence and fear, early January 2026 has brought fresh bloodshed, including the massacre of 42 men in the village of Kasuwan Daji, not far from Papiri, where more than 200 schoolchildren were …
Continue reading “New Year begins with bloodshed: 50 killed in fresh attacks in Nigeria”
The Church in northern Burkina Faso deplores the lack of media attention given to the terrorist crisis it is suffering, with displaced people facing enormous needs and Christian communities showing great resilience. During a visit to the international headquarters of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), in Königstein, Germany, Bishops Théophile Naré and Justin …
Continue reading “Burkina Faso: faith resists amid heavy international silence”
Catholic Bishops of Nigeria warn of escalating violence and call for urgent action to protect life and religious freedom (Cover Photo, archive: displaced women by the violence in Nigeria, 2023.) Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) echoes the urgent appeal of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN), which warns of the deepening security …
Continue reading “Nigerian Bishops: “Lasting peace cannot be achieved through silence or delay””
The Catholic Diocese of Kontagora has reported a violent overnight attack on St. Mary’s Catholic Primary and Secondary Schools in Papiri, Niger State, Nigeria, resulting in “the kidnapping of pupils, students, teachers, and school personnel, as well as a security guard who was badly shot.” According to the statement sent to Aid to the Church …
Continue reading “Armed attack and mass kidnapping at Catholic Schools in Niger State”
The attack represents “a major blow to the education of young girls, which is already quite rare in these parts of the country,” say local sources. The abduction of around 25 students from the Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School in Maga, in Nigeria’s north-western state of Kebbi, has plunged the community into deep shock. A …
Continue reading “New mass abduction of schoolgirls in northern Nigeria”
The West African nation has been classified as suffering from severe, systematic and ongoing religious freedom violations. (Cover image: AI-generated image for illustrative purposes only). Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has received an official communication from the Archdiocese of Kaduna, Nigeria, reporting the abduction of a priest following a violent attack on the …
Continue reading “Nigeria: Priest abducted in the Archdiocese of Kaduna”
The international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) expresses its deep concern and sadness over the renewed upsurge in terrorism in the Dioceses of Nouna and Fada N’Gourma, respectively in the northeast and southeast of Burkina Faso. Over the past few weeks, civilians and members of the Church have once again suffered …
Continue reading “Burkina Faso: Two dioceses hit by new wave of attacks”
Father Augustine Amadu was a friend of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) and his death is a tragic loss for the Church in the Diocese of Kenema and for the whole Church. A priest was murdered in his parish home on Saturday, August 30, 2025, in the Diocese of Kenema, Sierra Leone. Fr. …
