The Voice of the suffering in Africa

Two weeks after the M23 armed group attacked the city of Goma, there is still fighting in the province of North Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, worsening humanitarian conditions in the region. A missionary in the country tells ACN that over 2,000 people have been killed, and that hospitals are overrun with the wounded. Even refugee camps have been attacked.  The province of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo is facing a terrible humanitarian ...

ACN dedicates its Lent campaign to the persecuted Church. The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is launching a new campaign at the beginning of Lent. “Martyrs of Our Days: Witnesses of Hope” is a call to show solidarity with persecuted Christians around the world. Inspired by Pope Francis’ invitation to celebrate a Jubilee of Hope, this campaign aims to highlight that despite the persecution they suffer, today’s martyrs continue to be examples of consolation, faith, and ...

For many years, ACN has provided support, especially through scholarships, to members of the Assumption Sisters of Eldoret. Using the skills obtained through this aid, the sisters have been helping girls on the street in Nairobi.  In Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, there are over 60,000 street families, including thousands of boys and girls who do not go to school and are often addicted to drugs or involved in other illegal activities, Sister Caroline Ngatia tells ACN, during a visit ...

Translated into approximately 200 languages, ACN’s Child’s Bible is the only book that some children own in their native language. Now, with the help of ACN, Father Stefaan Lecleir, a missionary priest in South Sudan, is having the Child’s Bible translated in Pazande, the language spoken by the Azande people in parts of South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  “About 95 percent of the people in my parish are illiterate,” explains Father Stefaan ...

Goma, the capital of the province of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is in imminent danger of being taken over by the M23 rebels who seized the airport and parts of the city.   As fighting reportedly continues in Goma, the Church fears for the well-being of the innocent civilian population.  Willy Ngumbi Ngengele, the Bishop of Goma in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, has issued a warning about the city’s drastic situation, as ...

A series of attacks on Christian communities in December, including on Christmas Day, left dozens dead, according to recent reports from ACN’s local Church sources. Dozens of Christians were killed in attacks in and around Christmas time in Nigeria, especially in Benue State. News of these attacks only recently came to the attention of the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), after the foundation received reports from local Church partners, highlighting the lack of coverage of ...