UK – Cardinal Nichols and Iraqi bishop bless crucifix that survived Islamic State occupation At first sight, it appeared nothing had survived the devastation left by Islamic State in the ancient Christian lands of the Nineveh Plain in Iraq. But half buried in the rubble, outside St George’s Church near Alqosh was a crucifix...
CUBA – First Catholic church to be built in 60 years A new Catholic church is being built in Sandino, located in the western corner of Cuba – the first in 60 years. About 40,000 people live in the coastal town. The new church will be called the Parish of Divine Mercy of Sandino,...
EGYPT – “This is our country. We will never leave it” INTERVIEW with Bishop William Kyrillos of Assiut on the occasion of his visit to the national office of the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need in Brazil. Aid to the Church in Need – What is the significance of being a Christian...
PHILIPPINES – Marawi: Abducted Christians may be used as bargaining chips “I hope the government will act wisely and prudently in order to avoid a bloodbath.” The words are those of PIME missionary Father Sebastiano D’Ambra and he is referring in particular to the abduction of Father Teresito Soganub, together with 15 other Christians,...
MALAYSIA – Christian politician criticised by Muslims for publishing book about her faith The federal constitution of Malaysia states that “every person has the right to profess and practice his religion”. Yet in Selangor (one of Malaysia’s 13 states) a Christian politician, Hannah Yeoh, is under fire for publishing a book about her faith. The...
FRANCE – Opening of the Process of Beatification of Fr Jacques Hamel Pope Francis decided to dispense with the usual five-year delay after the death of a baptized person to open the process of Beatification of Father Jacques Hamel. The announcement was made by Mgr Dominque Lebrun on 2October 2016 during a Mass to mark...
MONGOLIA – The Church celebrates 25 years of presence After 66 years of communist dictatorship, Mongolia drafted its first constitution in 1992 and religious freedom was recognized for the first time. That same year the country established diplomatic relations with the Holy See, and the Catholic Church established a presence there, with the missionaries of...
IRAQ – Archbishop calls for educational and constitutional reform to combat terrorism Habib al-Naufali, Chaldean Archbishop of Basra, spoke at the second International Conference on Victims of Ethnic and Religious Violence in the Middle East , which took place in the Royal Palace of El Pardo in Spain. According to Archbishop Al Naufali, only...
Cardinal Baltazar Porras: “The room to manoeuvre freely is getting smaller and smaller. At the moment, everything here is one-dimensional.” During a visit to the international head office of the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the archbishop of Mérida, Cardinal Baltazar Enrique Porras, spoke with María Lozano about the exceedingly grave...
SYRIA – “Freedom crucified!” Testimony of a priest abducted by IS How did I – taken hostage by a group of jihadists, imprisoned for almost five months, frequently threatened with beheading, and after witnessing the abduction and imprisonment of 250 of my parishioners – how did I respond to the experience of my liberation? Was there...
