The Voice of the suffering in Africa

Northern Nigeria usually appears in the news because of violence, kidnappings, or interreligious conflicts. However, in the midst of that reality, there are also many experiences of peaceful coexistence between Christians and Muslims. Bishop Gerald Musa of the Diocese of Katsina believes that the greatest challenge is not religious difference, but the insecurity and lack of justice that affect all of society. The bishop explained his positions in a conversation with pontifical charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) ...

Building where the nuns were staying also serves as a home for young girls. Archbishop laments “exponential” rise in crime in the African country. Killing of Bishop Osório Citora Afonso remains unsolved. The president of the Bishops’ Conference of Mozambique has denounced an “exponential rise” in criminality in the country, following an attack on the house of a group of religious sisters in the Archdiocese of Nampula. The attack occurred on August 8 in Mecuburi. Shortly after midnight, the criminals ...

Catholic leaders advocate for the right of return of internally displaced people. The return of thousands of displaced Christians to their places of origin in Iraq, supported by ACN following the defeat of Islamic State, could serve as a model for responding to the crisis facing Christian communities in Nigeria’s Middle Belt. On August 6, 2014, the Islamic State swept through the Nineveh Plains, the ancestral homeland of Iraqi Christians, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee overnight to the safety ...

Crowds lined roads, despite the danger, to bid farewell to Fr. Crépin Martial Monga Father Crépin Martial Monga, vicar of the Catholic parish of St. John the Baptist in Zémio, in southeastern Central African Republic (CAR), was killed on Monday, June 29. Armed men allegedly gunned down the priest that evening. Details of the killing are scarce, but sources on the ground tell Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that there is no doubt that the killing was intentional. ...

Fr. Stephen Idoko knows firsthand how true, lived religious freedom can strengthen a society. As a Nigerian priest, Fr. Stephen Idoko was only too familiar with the problems that terrorists created for Christians in his country: Boko Haram, the kidnapping of the Chibok school girls, the ongoing Fulani attacks on Christian communities, and so on. But the news that reached Fr. Idoko on April 24, 2018, drove that reality home in a terrifying way. It was then that he learned ...

Despite the danger, and the looming threat of famine, missionaries on the ground insist they will not abandon their flocks, since they are “living signs of God’s presence.” Hundreds of people have left everything and fled their villages as unknown terrorists ravage the countryside in the northern region of Upper Uele, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Testimonies sent to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) by missionaries in the DRC show that the situation is causing ...