The Voice of the suffering in Africa

A Nigerian bishop committed to helping families who have fled some of the country’s worst persecution and conflict marks the anniversary of his ordination with a heartfelt message of thanks to a leading Catholic charity.   In the decade since his episcopal ordination, Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi has witnessed an explosion in the number of displaced families escaping extremists, including Fulani herdsmen who have seized vast swathes of lands, forcing entire communities to flee their homes.  In response, the bishop ...

Terrorism in eastern Burkina Faso has shaken the Diocese of Fada N’Gourma. Attacks in the parishes of Piéla and Saatenga caused many deaths and significant material destruction, and follow a pattern of terrorist violence that the country has seen since 2015. “The attacks are multiplying. We ask for your fervent prayer. Pray for the victims and for the fearful survivors,” asked a priest from the Diocese of Fada N’Gourma, speaking to the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in ...

Kidnapping for ransom has become an industry in Nigeria, and priests are often targeted.   On Sunday, October 27th, a priest was kidnapped at the minor seminary where he worked and was taken by armed bandits into bushes.   Armed gunmen broke into the Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary, in the Diocese of Auchi, Edo State, Nigeria, at around 7:00 P.M. and fired shots into the air, causing panic among students and staff, according to a diocesan statement sent to Aid to the ...

Confidential sources contacted by ACN speak of a worsening of discrimination against Christian communities in two villages in the Mopti region of Mali. According to information received by the intentional Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), an Islamic extremist group that is active in the region has recently imposed a tax of 25,000 CFA Francs (about 40 dollars) on all Christians over the age of 18 in Douna-Pen, the largest Christian village in eastern Koro, Mopti.   This ...

Unidentified armed men stormed a Catholic seminary in southern Nigeria on Sunday, October 27th, and kidnapped its rector. The terrorists attacked Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary in Ivhianokpodi, Edo State and captured Father Thomas Oyode during Benediction and Evening Prayer, according to a statement sent to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Father Peter Egielewa, director of communications for the Auchi Diocese, wrote in the statement that “the vice vector and all the seminarians have been accounted for ...

Bishop Antonio Juliasse says that ACN continues to be a “friendly hand,” having stood by the local Church through a conflict that has already killed over 5,000 people and displaced over one million. The Bishop of Pemba in Mozambique recalled the seventh anniversary of the start of the Islamist insurgency that devasted the province of Cabo Delgado. During a visit to Portugal, on his way back to Mozambique after visiting Rome with other bishops from the country, Bishop António Juliasse ...