Pope announces November visit to Myanmar and Bangladesh The Vatican has announced that Pope Francis will travel to Myanmar (November 27-30) and to Bangladesh (November 30-December 2). This is the first visit of a Pope to Myanmar and the second visit of a Pope to Bangladesh, 31 years after John Paul II’s trip in November...
HONG KONG Bishop says China “trampling” on Christianity by cross removals The Archbishop of Hong Kong, Most Rev Paul Kwong, said the Chinese government is “trampling on Christianity” by removing church crosses. He also expressed scepticism over the government’s reasons for taking the crosses down. Chinese authorities had previously stated the church crosses were...
SYRIA In Aleppo, not even the dead can rest in peace Aid to the Church in Need has agreed to support the rebuilding of the Greek Orthodox Cemetery and the transfer of the remains of Orthodox and Catholic Christians of various rites who died in Aleppo between April 2013 and December 2016 to the...
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...
