NIGERIA – Kidnapped rector of Tansi seminary released Fr Emmanuel Dim, rector of the Tansi Major Seminary in Onitsha Anambra State, who was kidnapped has now been released. News of Fr Dim’s release was published in the evening edition of the ‘Daily Trust’ and also appeared on the website ‘The Seismograph’. Persons suspected of...
Plans for Christian repopulation of Nineveh post-Daesh (ISIS) “The Church is making a strong case to re-claim its place in a region where – until 2014 – there had been an unbroken Christian presence stretching back almost to the start of Christianity” – Neville Kyrke-Smith If Mosul is recaptured from Daesh (ISIS) it could...
SYRIA – More than one million children sign appeal for peace For the past few days, children at more than 2000 schools all over Syria have been drawing and writing messages to the political decision makers of the European Union and United Nations under the motto “Peace for Children”. More than one million children are...
AZERBAIJAN – Highlights of Pope’s visit Pope Francis visited Azerbaijan as the last stop of his three-day trip. This was the first time the Pope ever travelled to a majority Shi’ite nation. There are only about 600-700, Roman Catholics in Azerbaijan, only 200 of whom have citizenship. After landing at the Heydar Aliyev airport...
GEORGIA – Highlights of Pope’s visit Pope Francis arrived shortly after 3 p.m. local time in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, after a four-hour flight for the first stage of his Sept. 30-Oct. 2 visit to the Caucasus. The visit theme is “Pax vobis” and the trip focussed on peace, ecumenism, and interreligious dialogue. At the...
First country to create new office specifically to deal with Christian persecution Hungary is the first country to establish a special government office on persecution of Christians. The new department has a 3 million euro budget and will address both persecution of Christians in the Middle East and the subtle forms of discrimination some...
FRANCE – Church where Fr Hamel was murdered reopens after penitential rite The church of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in Rouen, where 86 year old Fr Jacques Hamel was brutally stabbed to death by two young men shouting “Allah Akbar” on 26 July is now open again for worship. Fr Hamel was celebrating a mass when he was...
Pope calls for protection of civilians as ‘Imperative and Urgent Obligation’ During his weekly General Audience in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Francis lamented “the dramatic news concerning the fate of the people of Aleppo.” Francis described Aleppo as “an already martyred city, where everybody is dying”, adding that he feels united in suffering with the...
Fr Andrzej Halemba, the Coordinator of Aid to the Church in Need (International) for the Middle East, is collecting material and testimonies from several Christians from Syria and Iraq who have suffered for their faith in Christ and others who are still being persecuted. Fr. Halemba has also met many Arabic speaking people who wish...
SYRIA – Will we become the Guardians of Rocks, Pebbles and Stones? Shaken safeguard Six years of war have finally shaken the Syrian society’s safeguard: THE FAMILY, which was the primary cell that absorbed the shocks and misfortunes of the never ending violence and that saved the country and the Church until 2014. Insecurity,...
