COLOMBIA – Cúcuta diocese seminary celebrates its 30th anniversary   The diocese of Cúcuta lies in the far north-east of Colombia, on the frontier with Venezuela. This year there has been a special reason for celebration, since the local diocesan seminary is celebrating the 30th anniversary of its founding. The rector of the seminary, Father José Abel...

IRAQ – Displaced Christians rejoice as Qaraqosh is liberated after 2 years    Qaraqosh: 2 years, 207 days, 19 hours, 48 minutes and 13 seconds… “We are so happy, and we are praying to be able to return to our homes one day”. On 6 August 2014 the plain of Niniveh was overrun by the...

SYRIA – Assyrian Christians caught in crossfire of battle against IS   Assyrian Christian villages in north-east Syria have been taken over by militias from the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG), as fighting continues to re-take the area from Islamic State. Kurdish militias have reportedly erected signs in different places in the villages along the Khabour...

BRAZIL – 101-year-old woman receives First Communion 101 year old Doña Penha had seen and experienced many things but the latest event is probably one of the most significant in her long life. She received her First Communion during Mass at Our Lady of Mount Carmel nursing home in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – probably the...

Rouen diocese starts  Fr Hamel beatification process after Pope gives approval   Dominique Lebrun, Archbishop of Rouen, announced that his diocese has officially begun an inquiry into the beatification of French priest Jacques Hamel, killed by Islamic extremists earlier this summer. The archbishop made the announcement after celebrating a special Mass on 2 Oct to re-open...

KENYA – Latest terrorist attack intended to drive out Christians from the region   A radio station run by the militant Islamist group al-Shabab is claiming that the latest terrorist attack on Christians in northeast Kenya was a deliberate attempt to drive them out of the region. The group claimed that its forces were responsible for...

BANGLADESH – Family of Dhaka massacre victim help to build new church   After the tragic attack in the Bangladeshi city of Dhaka last July, the family of one of the victims, Simona Monti who was pregnant when she was killed, gave a generous donation to help ACN build a new church. The first stone of...

  Plan for autonomous homeland for persecuted Middle East Christians   Christians driven from their ancestral homelands and persecuted by Islamist terrorists are calling for an autonomous region of their own to be established when peace is restored in the Middle East. Representatives of Iraq’s Christian, Yazidi and other religious minority communities have travelled to...

HAITI – Pope offers prayer and  support for hurricane victims   Pope Francis has sent a telegram expressing his “deep sympathy in these painful circumstances” and assuring his prayer and spiritual closeness to all those affected by hurricane Matthew, particularly in Haiti. “Learning of the devastation wrought by hurricane Matthew, which has caused numerous victims and...