IRAQ “As long as there is even one Christian family left we will stay” During the war the Dominican Sisters of Iraq lost more than 23 convents that fell into the hands of Islamic State and they were forced to flee. During the flight 14 nuns died, most were older or fell ill and were...
Pope’s message to Bangladesh Pope Francis sent a video message to Bangladesh in which he says that he comes “as a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ” and also wishes “to encounter the entire population” and is “especially keen to meet Religious Leaders in Ramona.” The message was sent just ahead of his upcoming...
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO “A challenge carved in stone” The impact of a new cathedral in Basankusu in the western Congo – supported by Aid to the Church in Need The position of the church in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is difficult, especially in the eastern part of the country, where war has...
Nuncio to UN demands justice for victims of Islamic State Persecuted religious minorities in Syria and Iraq deserve a better future after suffering at the hands of the Islamic State group. That was the message of Archbishop Bernadito Auza, the apostolic nuncio leading the Holy See’s permanent observer mission to the U.N. Auza was...
IRAQ “The Pope is close to us, even when he is not here” Papal donation from Lamborghini auction gives Iraqi Christians courage “Iraqi Christians were deeply moved by the gesture of the Holy Father,” said Chaldean Catholic Patriarch of Babylon Louis Raphaël I Sako to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Pope Francis has...
“Countless Christians are suffering because of our cowardly indifference” – interview with Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, International President of ACN On 17 November, the day Persecuted and Forgotten? was launched in Malta, Auberge de Castille (the Prime Minister’s office) and Good Shepherd church in Balzan were floodlit in red. Thirty buildings in the UK blazed...
BANGLADESH Oppressed Christians look forward to Pope’s visit Most of the Catholics in the country are tribal peoples, who are still fighting for recognition of their rights Bangladesh is awaiting the visit of Pope Francis from 30 November to 2 December. It is one of the most densely populated countries in the world and...
BELARUS: “The Catholic church is not demanding any privileges, but its rights.” Archbishop Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz of Minsk-Mohilev deplores the violation of the rights of the Catholic church in Belarus. In a document that has been made available to the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), he calls for the signing of...
BULGARIA Breaking the vicious cycle for Romani children “If we don’t do anything, the fate of the Romani children will be sealed,” Salesian Father Martin Jilek from Stara Zagora in Central Bulgaria, 230 kilometres to the east of the capital of Sofia, said. “They are married off by their clan when they are fourteen....
IRAQ Sister Ilham offers children a safe place near Mosul “In 2016, around six thousand people had to leave Telleskuf. When I returned to this area, all the houses were abandoned and many of them were destroyed. In Telleskuf a lot of buildings have been reduced to rubble. The school and the children’s home...
