A local Catholic leader has warned about the weakening of the Christian presence in Palestine as a result of the construction of an Israeli security barrier. Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali, who is responsible for the Palestinian regions of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, made his comments while speaking to international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to [...]
A Damascus bomb blast which killed a deacon in training shows that a Christian district of the city is in acute danger, according to a leading Catholic bishop. Benjamin Camil, 35, was on his way home on Tuesday morning, March 26th, after distributing food to destitute people, when he was killed instantly by the explosive. [...]
“For Egypt, the Christians are an indispensable force. They can contribute to opening up the country.” With these words, the Coptic Catholic Bishop of Assiut, Kyrillos William Samaan, affirmed the significance of Christians in the reshaping of Egypt. Since mid-February, Bishop Kyrillos has deputized for the seriously ill Patriarch of Alexandria (with headquarters in Cairo), [...]
Metropolitan Hilarion, responsible for the external relations of the Russian Orthodox Church, pointed out the joint tasks of members of the Orthodox and Catholic Churches in a world characterized by materialism and consumerism at a meeting on Pentecost with the Executive President of the Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). “We must [...]
Fears are growing for the safety of two priests from Sudan who have been abducted. Fr. Joseph Makwey, in his 40s, and Fr. Sylvester Mogga, in his mid-30s, were seized on Sunday, January 15th, by men who smashed through the gates of their parish compound and broke down the presbytery door. According to neighbors, the [...]
Thanks to support from Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), a new diocesan center has opened in Novosibirsk, Siberia. The center is also a memorial to martyr Bishop Alexander Chira (pictured left). The Apostolic Nuncio to Russia, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovitch, Bishop Joseph Werth of Novosibirsk as well as the Catholic Bishops of [...]
“The Church is a place of refuge and a sign of hope for the people.” With these words, a bishop in East Congo drew attention to the growing significance of the Church in this crisis region. Vincent de Paul Kwanga Njubu, Bishop of Manono in the south-east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo made [...]
A year after the attack which left 58 Christians dead in Baghdad, the faithful in Iraq’s capital city continue to be scared of fresh violence. “Living in Iraq means living in fear. There’s no feeling safe and during the last two or three weeks the situation has got worse, because of tensions among political parties,” [...]
Christian prisoners in Pakistan’s jails are suffering severe discrimination, according to a local Catholic lawyer. Moazzam Aslam Bhatti reported his claims of anti-Christian prejudice to staff from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), who are currently visiting projects which the Catholic charity is supporting in the country. Mr. Bhatti said that Christians are marginalized [...]
Renegade politicians whipping up religious hatred are to blame for bloodshed and violence in northern Nigeria according to the local bishop who says the police have failed in their duty to protect the people. Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme of Maiduguri said local politicians were exploiting the region’s religious divisions to “whip up” anger in a [...]
According to a local Coptic leader in Egypt, “Christians are currently experiencing their worst time in recent centuries.” This statement was made by the Coptic Orthodox Bishop Stephanos of Beba and Elfashn to international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). As he described, Christians are being violently killed under the eyes [...]
“The Lord’s Resistance Army continues to terrorize the population. People are afraid.” This was the declaration of a local Catholic leader in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The Rt. Rev. Julien Andavo Mbia, Bishop of Isiro-Niangara, described the dire situation of his countrymen and -women in the north-western region of the Democratic Republic of the [...]
Christians in one corner of Iraq have tripled in number over the past 15 years according to a leading bishop who is grappling with an influx of people escaping persecution and oppression. Christians in Ankawa, a suburb of the Kurdish capital Erbil, have increased from more than 8,500 in the mid-1990s to more than 25,500 [...]
The situation of Christians in Syria could worsen under a new government. This was the fear voiced by Bishop Samir Mazloum of the Maronite Patriarchate of Antioch, in a discussion with international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). According to Bishop Mazloum, whose See is in Bkerke, Lebanon, the Church is [...]
“We are a growing Church, and each year around 1000 people find their way to the Faith.” This was the report of a bishop from India during a visit to international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Bishop Cyprian Monis, from the Diocese of Asansol in West Bengal, on the eastern [...]
Christians in Orissa, who suffered the worst persecution in India in modern times, have continued to be targeted and harassed in 2011, according to a new report. Three years after the series of attacks on Christians beginning in August 2008 – which saw 18,000 injured, 50,000 displaced and perhaps up to 500 killed after 4,104 [...]
Rosaries and medals blessed by Pope John Paul II were given to young Catholics from persecuted countries at World Youth Day. Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which held an exhibition about Christian persecution as part of World Youth Day’s cultural program in Madrid, gave the blessed objects to visitors to the [...]
The persecution of Christians is being highlighted by an exhibition which has been organized as part of World Youth Day (WYD) 2011’s cultural program. The photographic and multimedia exhibition, “Persecuted Christians Today,” takes place in the Royal Church of Saint Jerome in Madrid from the 15th – 21st August, but a special preview was held [...]
Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has come to the aid of islanders in the Bay of Bengal who could not afford to finish building chapels in rural areas with no priests. Bishop Alex Dias explained how parishioners in his Diocese of Port Blair, which covers the Andaman and Nicobar islands, have [...]
A leading Catholic bishop in Iraq has spoken of his people’s shock and courage after a car bomb outside a church left 13 people injured. Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk said he and his faithful “will never stop witnessing to Christ” in spite of the bomb which went off directly outside the Holy Family Syrian [...]
The peaceful creation of South Sudan bodes well for the fledgling nation, but disaster could yet unfold unless serious issues are addressed quickly, according to leading bishops in the region. Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala hailed the success of formalities on Saturday, July 9th, marking the independence of South Sudan, describing it as a “wonderful day [...]
Christians are serving as a bridge to Islam in northern Iraq, according to a cofounder of the “Initiative Christian Orient.” Speaking in an interview with international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Professor Hans Hollerweger told ACN, “In northern Iraq Christians are a bridge to Islam. Hence the West must do [...]
Obtaining permission to build new churches in Egypt could become almost as easy as constructing mosques, according to new government proposals which have won the backing of leading clergy. The plan, now in public consultation, proposes to do away with the existing laws whereby church-building plans require permission from the president himself. Instead, such proposals [...]
A Catholic bishop in Sudan has warned of a possible new genocide in the country. In an interview with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishop Macram Max Gassis of El Obeid Diocese warned of further problems in South Kordofan, on the border between north and south Sudan, where there has been [...]
