CAMEROON – “We are still alive because we were in church”   Time and again, the northern part of Cameroon has become the scene of suicide attacks by terrorists from Boko Haram. The people in Maroua-Mokolo are afraid. Time and again, the dioceses located along the border to Nigeria have become the scene of attacks by...

SOMALIA – Church reopens for remaining Catholics after 20 years   “Even if it has to be silently, it is better to be there than not to be there”, explains Bishop Giorgio Bertin, the apostolic administrator of Mogadishu and bishop of Djibouti, referring to the presence of the Catholic Church in this part of the Horn...

Pope calls on religious leaders to condemn acts of terrorism   As the Year of Mercy drew to a close, Pope Francis met with around 200 representatives of different religions at the Vatican including Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Muslims who all work in fields related to charity and mercy. The Pope expressed his sadness at...

ACN’s  new Religious Freedom Report warns of global impact of religious “hyper-extremism”   Religious Fundamentalism – more lethal than ever seen before – is unleashing death, destruction, displacement and instability at unprecedented levels, according to a report out today. The Religious Freedom in the World 2016 report, produced by Catholic charity Aid to the Church...

PHILIPPINES – Training course for lay pastoral workers who support families in crisis   The archdiocese of Zamboanga is the capital city of the peninsula region of the same name, which in turn is a part of the island of Mindanao. It serves a population of some 620,000 Catholics. Already in the past the archdiocese had...

Invitation to Malta launch of ACN’s Religious Freedom in the World 2016 Report   Date                      Friday 25 Nov 2016 Time                     3.00pm Venue                  St Anthony Chapel (Russian Chapel) at San Anton Palace, Attard A new Aid to the Church in Need publication entitled Religious Freedom in...

Exciting discovery as Tomb of Christ is renovated after 500 years   The tomb of Jesus Christ in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is being restored. It had been damaged by many years of exposure to humidity from the breath of visitors, and heat from candles burning nearby. The shelf on which...

BRAZIL – To the Indigenas with love   Missionaries abducted and murdered… their church burned down. No, we are not talking about the Middle East, but about Brazil and about a situation that is little known in the wider world – the situation in the Indigenous Territory of Raposa Serra do Sol in the state of...

Another Chibok schoolgirl rescued with a 10-month-old baby   Another Chibok schoolgirl has been rescued by Nigerian troops. The girl, carrying her 10-month-old son Ali, was found in Pulka in northern Borno state by soldiers screening escapees from Boko Haram’s base in the Sambisa forest. “This morning as part of the operation we’ve been conducting,...

PAKISTAN – Christians fight persecution with inter-faith dialogue   Archbishop Sebastian Shaw of Lahore told a meeting, hosted by the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need that Christians in Pakistan are fighting persecution and terrorism with interfaith dialogue. Groups are being set up across Pakistan to help Christians, Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs understand each...