Churches have opened their doors to receive IDPs, but efforts are overstretched operating schools, hospitals, care homes, and orphanages. (Photo of the banner: Fr. Maroun Youssef Ghafari, Maronite parish priest of Alma Sha’b in 2025, at the border with Israel. Rubbles of the war of 2024 are still visible.) As another 25 people were killed …
Continue reading ““The Church is really a rock in Lebanon” as airstrikes intensify”
“We have never faced anything like this,” says a Christian. With yet another blow to regional stability, many Christians in the Holy Land believe it is time to leave. Yet the Church’s mission remains unchanged: to bring hope and dignity to people in their daily lives. The director of the Development Office of the Latin …
Since the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, at the end of February 2026, the southern border of Lebanon has again become a war zone. In this context of increased violence, Fr. Maroun Youssef Ghafari, the Maronite parish priest of Alma Sha’b, on the border with Israel, has decided to stay with his …
Continue reading ““We will stay, despite the war,” says priest in southern Lebanon”
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 …
Continue reading “ACN calls for prayers for Fr. Pierre El Rai, killed in southern Lebanon”
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”
