NORWAY – Christian parents finally get their seized children back following international pressure The Norwegian Child Protection services have agreed to return the remaining four Christian children to the custody of their family and they will soon be reunited with their parents. The decision to return the children to their parents is part of an agreement reached with...
INDIA – Dozens of Christians flee their homes after receiving death threats Nearly four dozen Christians belonging to six families in a tribal community in Katodi, Kanker district, were forced to flee their homes after receiving threats from Hindu radicals that they would be killed if they did not convert to Hinduism. According to local...
ARMENIA – “We Armenians, no matter whether Catholic or Orthodox, love the Pope” The Armenian Catholic church is expecting Pope Francis in Armenia at the end of June – Aid to the Church in Need is helping it prepare Expectations in Armenia are high preceding the visit of Pope Francis to the country. “The Holy...
SYRIA – Patriarch Younan: the West is complicit in genocide The Patriarch of Antioch and the Syrian Catholic Church, Ignace Youssif III Younan, had some harsh words to say about Western countries whom he accuses of inciting violence in the Middle East: “The West is stoking the catastrophic tragedies unfolding before our eyes. We have...
IRAQ – Sako –Message to Muslims during Ramadan Below is the letter of Patriarch Louis Raphael Sako, Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon, to Muslims on the month of Ramadan. The text has been provided by the Patriarchate: Sisters and Brothers, We as a Church wish you a “Ramadan – Fasting” and bind our wishes with...
VATICAN – Committee appointed to distribute money collected for Ukraine The Vatican announced that a committee has been appointed that will be responsible for the distribution of the funds gathered in the Pope’s recent special collection for Ukraine. The Holy See press office announced: “As is known, following the tragic hostilities in the east of...
MEXICO – Bishop appeals for end to violence and murders Bishop José de Jesús Martínez Zepeda of Irapuato is appealing for peace in Mexico after years of shockingly high murder rates. According to Mexico’s National Institute for Statistics and Geography, between 2007 and 2014 there were 164,345 homicides in the country. The period covers some...
MALI – Interview with Father Germain Arama Father Germain was interviewed when he visited ACN Head Office in Königstein on Thursday, 21 April 2016. He was born in Mopti, in central Mali, studied at the seminary in Bamako, and is now the diocesan bursar of the diocese of Mopti, which serves a region of around...
IRAQ – Refugee children make First Communion in Erbil camp There is a moment of joy in the bleakness of life for displaced Iraqi Christians. A record number of refugee children are making their First Communion in a refugee camp in Erbil. Out of the 5,500 people living in Erbil’s Aishty 2 camp for the...
“We can not remain silent” Interview with Karin Maria Fenbert, CEO of ACN , by Tobias Lehner about the initiative to end discrimination against Christian refugees in Germany Christian relief and human rights organizations including ACN have launched a much-publicized appeal highlighting the worrying situation in German refugee camps. Christians and other religious...
