The Voice of the suffering in Asia

A 22-year-old Christian man, Waqas Masih, was brutally attacked by his supervisor, Zohaib, at the Subhan Paper Mills factory in Sheikhupura, Punjab. The incident, which took place on March 22nd, highlights the persistent religious intolerance present in much of Pakistani society.  According to reports from the victim’s family, received by the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the attack was allegedly related to Waqas’s refusal to convert to Islam after being coerced by Zohaib. It is ...

March 15th will mark the tenth anniversary of the death of Akash Bashir, a 20-year-old Catholic who sacrificed his life to save hundreds of people by intercepting a suicide bomber trying to access the church of Saint John in Youhanabad, in the Diocese of Lahore in Pakistan.  That act led to his being raised to the status of Servant of God – the first in the history of Pakistan – a first step on the path to beatification, generating much ...

Statement by Regina Lynch, ACN International Executive President  It is with profound sadness that we received the tragic news of the brutal murder of Father Donald Martin Ye Naing Win, a 44-year-old priest of the Catholic Archdiocese of Mandalay, in central Myanmar. His lifeless body, mutilated and bearing numerous stab wounds, was found by members of his community on Friday morning on the grounds of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, where he served.   The terrible act of violence, committed on ...

To commemorate World Radio Day on February 13th, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is highlighting its ongoing support for Catholic radio, an essential tool for both spreading information and evangelizing throughout the world. In 2024, the charity committed over $570,000 to 22 radio projects in 19 countries.  Hundreds of Catholic radio stations are operating in the most forgotten places on the planet. Many of them do so thanks to the benefactors of Aid to the Church in Need ...

A Christian mother of four in Pakistan has been sentenced to death for allegedly sharing blasphemous messages – but legal advocates, supported by a leading Catholic charity – have vowed to appeal the conviction.   Former nurse Shagufta Kiran, 40, received the death sentence on Wednesday, September 18th by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) court in Islamabad. She was also fined 300,000 Pakistani Rupees (more than 3,000 U.S. dollars).   The sentence came more than three years after FIA officers stormed her ...

Shagufta Kausar was falsely accused of blasphemy. For almost eight years, she was separated from her family; her husband was beaten and tortured; and they were pressured to convert to Islam. Now free, she tells Aid to the Church in Need how she found strength in her faith.  Mrs. Kausar, you were unjustly accused of blasphemy and, despite being innocent, spent almost eight years in a Pakistani jail. You’ve finally been released. What is it like to be a Christian ...