Newly appointed Bishop of Darwin, Charles Gauci, will visit Malta in October Maltese born Fr Charles Gauci, currently the administrator of St Francis Xavier’s Cathedral in Adelaide, was appointed the seventh Bishop of Darwin on 27 June 2018. Australian Catholic Bishops Conference president Archbishop Mark Coleridge welcomed the appointment of FrGauci, who is known...
NICARAGUA Church strongly condemns attack on bishops by pro-Government paramilitaries The Nicaraguan Catholic Bishops Conference has strongly condemned the attack on Cardinal Leopoldo José Brenes Solorzano of Managua; his auxiliary, Bishop Silvio José Baez Ortega; and Archbishop Waldemar Sommertag, apostolic nuncio to Nicaragua. The Archdiocese of Managua said the assault committed “by persons close...
INDIA Attacks and harassment against Christians at historically high levels Christians and religious minorities 10 years after the Kandhamal Riots 2008 was a year Catholics in the Indian state of Odisha suffered a terrible suppression at the hands of Hindu fundamentalists intent on extinguishing the presence of Christianity. Murders, the burning of buildings and...
ZIMBABWE “Elections are an opportunity to build a new Zimbabwe,” say bishops Since former President Robert Mugabe, who ruled the country since independence in 1980, was forced to resign in November 2017, Zimbabwe has been experiencing a mixture of hope and disappointment. The country has been struggling as the 30 years of Mugabe’s regime...
CAMEROON Priest killed in clashes between government forces and separatists A Catholic priest has been killed on 20 July during an exchange of fire between government forces and separatist militants by unidentified individuals. Fr. Alexandre Sob Nougi, 42, pastor of the parish of the Sacred Heart in Bomaka and diocesan secretary for Catholic education,...
IRAQ Christians in Iraq: Quo Vadis? “IS tried to take the monastery. In August of 2014 we were convinced that they would succeed,” Archbishop Timotheos Moussa Al-Shamani, abbot of the Syriac Orthodox Mar Matti Monastery, founded in the 4th century and one of the oldest in the world. The monks fled but quickly returned after...
VENEZUELA Third priest shot dead as violence escalates The extremely grave situation for priests in Venezuela continues to be one of the major concerns of ACN. Yet another priest has been murdered in Venezuela in the wave of violence that has swept across the country. Father Irailuis García of the parish of Our Lady of...
IRAQ “The West must not remain indifferent” Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon, spoke after Pope Francis’ ecumenical encounter in Bari with Christian leaders to reflect on and pray for the Middle East. “I am so full of hope, and I return with such strength!” said Sako. Sako said the ecumenical...
INDIA Millions of Muslims may be deprived of citizenship and sent to prison camps Human rights experts have warned that millions of Muslims in Assam could soon be removed from a list of “citizens” and later sent off to prison camps. The northeastern state of Assam is currently updating the National Register of Citizens...
INDIA 10 Christian families driven from their homes Earlier this year, Hindu nationalists posted a video online showing them trampling a photo of Pope Francis near Sacred Heart Cathedral in New Delhi, the national capital, and calling for a Christian-free India. The news is emerging that on 5 June 10 Christian families in the...
