Highlights of Pope’s ecumenical visit to Bari On Saturday 7 July, Pope Francis hosted an ecumenical prayer meeting with representatives of the Christian churches in the Middle East, in the southern Italian city of Bari. “Peace be upon you! Christians together for the Middle East” was the motto of the meeting. The choice of...
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC ACN provides emergency aid for the Diocese of Bangassou Since December 2012, a large part of the Central African Republic has been undergoing an intense war in which the Selekas (Muslims) and the anti-Balaka militias (non-Muslims) clash violently, thus plunging the civilian population into horror. After suffering threats and aggression and...
UKRAINE “The most important mission of the church is to bring God to the people” Many people in Ukraine are destitute, especially older people and families. The armed conflict taking place in the eastern part of the country also continues to claim victims. The Catholic church helps those in need by providing them with...
SOUTH SUDAN Bishops hopeful as a permanent ceasefire is declared through the country remains tense Bishop Barani Hiiboro of Tombura-Yambio, president of the Sudan and South Sudan Catholic Bishop’s Conference, welcomed the news that a permanent ceasefire has been declared on 27 June to take effect within 72 hours by South Sudan officials and...
SOMALIA Small Christian community forced to live their faith in secret Somalia is one of the most unstable countries in the world. For decades chaos has reigned in a land where the overwhelming majority are Muslims. According to the report on Religious Freedom published by the Pontifical Foundation for Aid to the Church in...
MALTA Marc Fromager talk: “Can Christianity survive in the Middle East?” A large number of people attended a lecture on 2 July entitled “Christianity in the Middle East –can it survive?” at the Corinthia Palace hotel organized by ACN Malta. Stephen Axisa, National Director gave a brief introduction and thanked the Corinthia Palace for...
Third priest killed this year News has emerged of the murder of yet another priest in this war-torn country – Father Firmin Gbagoua, the Vicar General of the diocese of Bambari in the Central African Republic. Father Gbagoua was killed at night on 29 June. The Vicar General of Bambari received “a bullet at close range...
PAKISTAN Inter-religious dialogue can break the walls of hatred and intolerance Speaking about his recent appointment to Cardinal, Joseph Coutts, Archbishop of Karachi, said “Among the first who came to congratulate me for my appointment to Cardinal was a group of 15-20 religious leaders from different communities. It is very important: we are learning coexistence...
