Pontifical Charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) calls for prayers for Fr. Pierre El Rai, a Maronite priest from the Maronite Diocese of Tyre and a project partner of the charity in southern Lebanon, who was killed amid the current escalation of violence in the region. According to information received by ACN, the …
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The return of war to the Middle East has reopened old wounds and many Christians are again contemplating leaving the region. A drone strike last Wednesday (4 March) damaged Church-owned buildings in Ankawa, the Christian-majority district of Erbil in northern Iraq, raising fresh fears among local Christians about their future in the region amid escalating …
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Over 30,000 displaced as violence escalates in Lebanon Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has remained in contact with project partners in the areas affected by airstrikes, assessing the need for emergency assistance. (Banner photo: archive from May 2025, when the southern region of the country was hit by destructive bombardments.) Nearly 30,000 people …
Continue reading “Lebanon: “Missiles are flying over our heads””
In Eastern Ukraine, people have grown numb to the danger of air raids but faith is growing. A bishop tells ACN that “without your help, we would be like refugees.” For much of the world, and even for many people inside Ukraine, the war with Russia began in 2022 with the launch of the full-scale …
Continue reading “Ukraine: “You did not only give us food, but a taste of God””
The Cry of Gaza’s Parish Priest Although the media attention has died down since the ceasefire, the Gaza Strip continues to sink into an unprecedented humanitarian and health crisis. Speaking to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Gaza’s Catholic priest, Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, described the “very serious” conditions marked by the daily suffering of …
Continue reading ““It is absolutely essential that the war stops””
As Christmas approaches, the priest of the only Catholic parish in Gaza, Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, tells Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that his community is attempting to keep the “flame of hope” alive, and thanks benefactors for the material and spiritual support they provide to the Holy Land. “Our situation is better than …
Continue reading “Gaza prepares for a Christmas without peace, but not without hope”
Catholics in a Ukrainian town live under constant threat of missiles and even have to pay to pray in a Church that was stolen from them by the Soviets at that time. But faith perseveres in Bila Tserkva. Fr. Lucas Perozzi has been serving as a missionary in Ukraine for 22 years (photo). Originally from …
Continue reading “Ukraine – At Christmas, hoping for God despite the threat of death”
With unemployment disproportionately affecting the Christian community, and as a gesture during the Jubilee of Hope, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (LPJ) made the decision to cancel student debt in all its schools. Even though Christians are the smallest of the three major faith groups present in the Holy Land, after Jews and Muslims, the …
In the Diocese of Kharkiv-Zaporizhia, which sits in a war zone in Eastern Ukraine, the Church has dedicated itself to trauma healing among soldiers and civilians. Aid to the Church in Need (ACN)’s help is like the hand of God, says the bishop. Life in the diocese takes place against the constant background of the …
Continue reading “Ukraine: “We have so much pain in us, but we know we have to live.””
The parish priest of Gaza called on his flock to “forgive all those who have failed and to ask forgiveness” for their own shortcomings, as preparation for what he hopes will be an end to this war. (Photo of the banner: a painted wall located more than a thousand kilometers away, in Beyrouth. a little …
Continue reading “Gaza: October 12, first Sunday of Peace After the Ceasefire”
