BANGLADESH Catholic Church demands more rights for ethnic minorities During a visit to the international headquarters of the Catholic pastoral charity and pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Archbishop Moses M Costa of Chittagong lamented the fact that the rights of the ethnic and religious minorities are not explicitly mentioned in...
RUSSIA “Sign of a renewed path” – Cardinal Parolin’s visit to Moscow Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, spoke about his visit to Moscow to meet with Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, and Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church. He said “At this historic moment, in which we witness an increase of...
COLOMBIA Pope’s visit will offer the people encouragement The President of the Colombian Episcopal Conference (ECC), Monsignor Oscar Urbina Ortega, spoke about the Pope’s eagerly anticipated visit to the country on 6-11 September. He said Colombians are expecting from Pope Francis “a word of encouragement for evangelization, for reconciliation and not to ever go...
NORTH KOREA 62 year old Canadian pastor released from prison A 62-year-old Canadian pastor who was sentenced to a life term of hard labour in North Korea for “crimes against the state” in December 2015 has been released on humanitarian grounds, the country’s official news agency says. The release comes as tensions mount between...
IRAQ Girl taken by IS reunited with her family “Pray for Christina’s family, still in shock to see their child again. It was a true miracle, a new birth and a new life” On the night of 6-7 August 2014, Islamic State (IS) occupied the historic regions of Nineveh Plains and emptied it of...
ETHIOPIA Christianity brings peace, tolerance and human rights for women The Borana people live in the far south of Ethiopia, in a region bordering on Kenya. In many ways the Catholic Church is in her infancy here, since Catholic missionaries only arrived in the region for the first time 45 years ago. The Holy...
SUDAN A chance for a better life – Oliver Maksan The Catholic schooling system is one of the pillars of the Church – and ACN is supporting its work Dust and mud brick houses everywhere – as far as the eye can see. The houses are indistinguishable in colour from the ground on which they...
Vatican hospital will care for seriously ill refugee children Bambino Gesù Hospital of the Holy See and the United National High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) have agreed to provide badly needed care to Jordanian and vulnerable refugee children with serious illnesses. The partnership will ensure that more than 300 children receive life-saving surgery in...
