SYRIA Shoes and winter clothing as a Christmas gift for the needy in Aleppo The northern city of Aleppo has been one of the hardest hit by the civil war in Syria. In the past it was one of the major economic centres of the country, but now this industry is destroyed and entire districts...
RUSSIA Support for a pro-life counselling centre in Magadan Father Michael Shields is from Alaska, but he has been living and working in Magadan for 20 years now. Set on the coast in the extreme Far East of Russia, this town, which today has a population of around 96,000, was built in 1929 as a...
Hundreds of Christians fight to defend the Biblical Syrian town of Sadad from Islamic State As Isamic State jihadists continue their push westwards toward the Syrian capital of Damascus, having already captured the town of Maheen, hundreds of Christians are coming from all over Syria to prevent IS from conquering the biblical Christian town of...
Christians in Syria facing “genocide” –we need to stand up for religious freedom In recent years, the civil war in Syria and the subsequent rise of Islamic State resulted in widespread destruction and loss of life. Although the tragic consequences of war affected the entire population of Syria, Christians have suffered in a particular way...
Emergency aid for the refugees in Bangui Over the past few months, it had looked as though things were settling down just a little in the Central African Republic, but then on 26 September serious unrest broke out once again in the capital Bangui. More than 40 people were killed, and there was widespread looting,...
Printing of catechisms for school children Speaking to ACN about the situation of the Christians in Pakistan, one priest summarised it in these words: “The Christians are socially discriminated against, politically oppressed and religiously persecuted”. In short, they are treated as second-class citizens and are often threatened, abused, pushed aside and for the most part...
Completion of the parish centre in Bahna The Catholic parish of Bahna in north-east Romania is still very young, having been established only in 2012. Currently it serves a Catholic community of some 470 people. In 2013 they were able to start work on a parish centre, which is now three quarters finished. The ground...
Fr Jaar wishes to thank the people of Malta and Gozo, and in particular parishioners of the churches he visited, for their warm welcome, hospitality and generosity. He fell in love with the Maltese Islands and the local people, who took him to their hearts. He was full of praise for our country “I m...
Two churches in Aceh province of Indonesia were deliberately burnt down by a mob of hundreds of Islamist radicals. Husein Hamidi, Aceh’s chief of police said “After burning the church, the crowd—made up mostly of members of the Muslim Youth Forum—tried to attack another but ran into opposition from Christians”. A riot erupted when Christians tried...
“If we believe in the fundamental rights and truth of democracy, we cannot ignore the abuses suffered by many religious minorities around the world,” said Javier Menendez Ros, director of the Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Congress of Deputies. He also noted that the decisions taken...
