The Voice of the suffering in Latin America

With 54 years of service in a rural parish in the Diocese of Guaranda in Ecuador, Salesian Father Antonio Polo has changed the region through pastoral and spiritual labor – but also, with the help of the local population, through business ventures such as the development of Salinerito Cheese. When Father Antonio Polo arrived in Salinas, Ecuador from his native Italy, over five decades ago, he was not only struck by the beauty of the landscape, but also by the difficult ...

Gang violence, forced migration, and poverty continue to plague Haiti. The Bishop of Fort-Liberté, Quesnel Alphonse, tells ACN about looting by gangs, the growing influence of Islam, and the trauma of a population that “feels completely lost.“ Haiti is experiencing a very difficult time, marked by an increase in gang violence and a collapse of basic services. Would you say that the situation is getting worse?  Definitely, yes. If I had to pick a word to describe the situation, I’d ...

In one of Mexico’s most dangerous states, the Working Sisters help children who are exposed to violence. With ACN’s support, they also train novices who grew up in difficult environments, preparing them to bring hope to vulnerable communities.   “One of our children saw his father be killed,” says Sister Rosalina during an interview with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). “We had another case of three children who witnessed the murder of their mother in front of their house. ...

In the face of rampant violence, which is paralyzing Port-au-Prince and isolating Haiti from the rest of the world, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Haiti, in a message received by ACN, calls on the government to act and appeals to every Haitian to work for peace and overcome hatred. In response to a catastrophic situation, and the continual deterioration of security in Haiti, the Bishops’ Conference of Haiti issued a “cry of alarm” for peace on November 15th, 2024, in ...

Father Gersaín Paz, the parish priest of one of Colombia’s most dangerous neighborhoods, tells Aid to the Church in Need how faith and music have changed the lives of many children in Cali, the capital of the drug trade, keeping them away from drugs and the temptation of suicide.   “This is Colombia’s biggest misfortune. Crime has become an industry,” laments Father Gersaín Paz, parish priest of Santa Marta, Cali, during a visit to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). ...

The Amazon, known as the “lungs of the planet,” due to its rich biodiversity, is also the home of inspiring and encouraging stories. One such story is centered on an old truck in a garage in Altamira, deep in the state of Pará, Brazil, which contains evergreen memories, though surrounded by rusty old scrap. “This truck was used during the Second World War, and it came from Switzerland. But over here, it was used in another kind of war, a ...