Aid to the Church in Need Archives

Aid to the Church in Need

Concerns mount for six Sisters kidnapped in Haiti

January 23, 2024

It has been confirmed that six religious Sisters were kidnapped by armed assailants in Haiti on 19 January. The abduction took place in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, when six Sisters of Saint Anne – who have not been named – were travelling to a university, the Haitian Conference of Religious has confirmed. The gunmen stopped the bus

Record number of Catholic priests arrested, abducted or murdered in 2023

January 18, 2024

Last year 132 priests and religious were arrested, abducted or killed globally, according to latest research. Belarus, China, Nicaragua and Nigeria were identified as the countries where clergy were most under threat. The total figure – up eight on 2022 – only covers confirmed cases , notes Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which conducted the

Christian minority killed and dying due to Gaza conflict

December 12, 2023

The Israel-Hamas conflict has claimed the lives of 22 people from among the roughly 1,000 Christians living in Gaza. An airstrike killed 17 Christians sheltering in the Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius on 19 October, and five others have died from lack of medical care. On 12 December an unexploded rocket was discovered on the boundaries of

Why does Europe ignore the crimes committed against Christianity?

November 23, 2023

Thirteen churches, basilicas and cathedrals across France were lit up in red on Wednesday, a colour chosen to symbolise the blood shed by Christians who died for their faith. The event went largely unnoticed by the media, as it did in Britain in July when Westminster Abbey also changed colour for the day. The

Christian homes and a Catholic school among buildings destroyed in Gaza

November 16, 2023

MORE than 50 Christian family homes and a Catholic school have been destroyed, and other Christian buildings have been badly damaged by airstrikes in Gaza, according to a charity’s project partner. One of the buildings destroyed has been the Rosary Sisters School, which had 1,250 students, both Christian and Muslim, and was one of the

Growing extremism and intolerant nationalism are to blame for increased persecution of Christians, says new report by Catholic charity

November 16, 2022

John Pontifex explores why ACN’s new report – Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith 2020-22 – should be a wake-up call to governments who claim to be the champions of religious freedom. “My God, it is hard to be chained and receive blows but I live this moment as you

From Syria to Slovakia, buildings are lit up in support of persecuted Christians

December 02, 2021

Hundreds of buildings across the world were lit up in solidarity with persecuted Christians in Red Week, an annual event organised by the charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). This year’s commemoration, on Nov. 17-24, marked the first time that the eastern European countries of Ukraine and Bosnia and Herzegovina have taken part in

Aid to the Church in Need assists in rebuilding of Lebanese church

June 18, 2021

“Due to the explosion which occurred on the 4th August 2020, Saint Joseph’s Church was severely damaged. Most of the wooden windows and doors were destroyed, the pitched roof was severely affected too.”