ucanews.com  reporter, Hong Kong :China May 27, 2015 Authorities have stepped up persecution of underground Catholics in Hebei province with the detention of a bishop and a priest as well as the demolition of an altar that left two laywomen injured, all in separate incidents this month. Bishop Julius Jia Zhiguo of Zhengding was taken...

Al Quaryatayn, Syria                                                                                                       27.05.2015   Following the abduction of Father Jacques in Syria his brother calls for prayer  Königstein/Damascus, 27.05.2015. Following the abduction of the Catholic monk Jacques Mourad and a companion on Thursday last week, the feeling of dismay in Syria is profound. Talking to the international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church...

Dear all,   I enclose two photos for St. Mary Assyrian Church in the village of Tal Nasri. The church was exploded and damaged by IS as they controlled the village. Last week, all the Christian Assyrian villages in Khabour are re-controlled and IS is pushed http://www.flomaxbuyonline.com out. However, the families are not going back...

By Archbishop Jean-Clément Jeanbart I just returned to Aleppo from a trip to the US, where I did my best to explain our situation to American Christians in several major cities on the East Coast. My journey appears to have been useful; so say the organizers of the awareness-raising campaign, the team of Aid to...

Pakistan                                                                                                                        26.05.2015   Königstein/Rome, 26.05.2015. “When a Muslim is accused of blasphemy, it is he alone who pays the consequences. However, if it is a Christian who is accused, then the entire Christian community is held responsible.” This was the comment made to ACN by Archbishop Sebastian Francis Shah of Lahore, after the events of...

UNESCO Press Release No.2015-44 Paris, 20 May–The Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova, has called for an immediate end to hostilities in Palmyra (Syria) following reports from several sources that armed extremist groups have infiltrated the World Heritage site, where fighting is now ongoing. “I am deeply concerned by the situation at the site of Palmyra....

   by Mgr Charles Vella, Sunday Times of Malta , May 24, 2015,    The Holy Land, the birthplace of Jesus, is becoming a land without Christians. The persecution of Christians has become global. Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, president of the Vatican Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue, declared recently that the number of Christians persecuted in the world is...

Syria                                                                                                                             22.05.2015   Rome/Königstein, 22.05.2015. It is less than two years since the abduction of Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, who was kidnapped in Raqqa on 29 July 2013 – and now the same horror has once again struck the monastic community of the Deir Mar Musa monastery, some 50 miles (80 km) north of Damascus. Yesterday,...

Friday, 15 May 2015 (1 week ago)       Vatican City, May 15, 2015 / 11:47 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis’ address to the bishops of the Central African Republic on Friday focused on the Church’s role in fostering reconciliation in the war-torn country, urging a deeper adhesion to the Gospel and the importance of honesty...

Ukraine                                                                                                                         19.05.2015   Königstein, 19.05.2015 – The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, Major Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, stressed during a visit to the international office of the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Needthat it was important at this time in particular to be committed to reconciliation and peace. “For us Robert Schumann...