The Voice of the suffering in Asia

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 ...

The number of people imprisoned for blasphemy in Pakistan has surged to more than 700. A woman who spent seven years on death row for the crime says that the country’s legal system is failing Christians.  Christians falsely accused of blasphemy in Pakistan struggle to find lawyers and are discriminated against in the justice system, says Shagufta Kausar, a mother of four who was imprisoned for allegedly sending text messages insulting the Muslim Prophet Mohammed, despite being illiterate and not ...

This September, Pope Francis will make his first trip to Papua New Guinea, a country introduced to Christianity about 70 years ago. In this corner of the world, Christians are enthusiastically preparing for his arrival, with the help of missionaries like Father Martín Prado from the Institute of the Incarnate Word. For 10 years, this missionary has lived in Vanimo, a coastal city that the Pope will visit, and he has shared his testimony with Aid to the Church in ...

One year since violence described as the worst outbreak of Christian persecution in Pakistan, Church leaders say people are terrified of more attacks and furious that the culprits have not been brought to justice.   Leading clergy in the Diocese of Faisalabad reported that security services warned Christians in Jaranwala against holding outdoor events on Friday, August 16th, to mark the first anniversary of the atrocities.  In a single day, a mob of thousands torched and ransacked more than 25 churches and at ...