The Voice of the suffering in Middle East

It is with sadness and gratitude that Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) bids farewell to Bishop Paul Thabet Habib of Alqosh, who passed away on June 20, following a battle with cancer. To us, he was not only a close partner, but a true companion in mission.  Bishop Thabet Habib Yousif Mansor Almako played a key role during the most difficult years for Christians in Iraq. In 2014, when ISIS forced more than 120,000 people to flee the ...

“We feel that we are alone”: The priest echoes the pain of the Christian community after the attack in Damascus last Sunday.  “Christians in Syria are feeling a great pain. The Christian community throughout Syria is going through a moment of deep sadness: the loss of 30 Christians who died in this attack. So far, there are 54 wounded.” This is what Father Fadi Azar, a Franciscan priest in Syria, said in an interview with Aid to the Church in ...

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is profoundly saddened and alarmed by the deadly attack that took place on Sunday evening in Damascus, Syria, during a service at the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Elias in the Dweila district. According to early reports, an explosion at the church entrance caused at least 20 deaths and more than 50 injuries among those attending and passersby. Regina Lynch, Executive President of ACN International, said: “We are deeply shocked by this tragic ...

The Patriarch of the Maronite Church, Cardinal Bechara Raï, is calling for measures so that Christians will not abandon the Middle East, because they are a decisive moderating factor among the region’s Muslim-majority countries.   “Many have had to abandon Syria, because nobody can live in a war, under bombardment,” the cardinal told pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). “This migration is reducing the number of Christians, who, in the Middle East, have contributed to the formation of ...

Amid very difficult conditions in Syria at the moment – and fear about the future – Archbishop Jacques Mourad believes that lifting sanctions will bring new hope.   The situation in Syria continues to be one of severe poverty and uncertainty, says the Syriac-Catholic Archbishop of Homs, and many Christian families are still trying to leave the country.   According to Archbishop Jacques Mourad, the recent replacement of the regime of Bashar al-Assad by one with fundamentalist Muslim roots has bred suspicion among ...

More than six months since a ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon came into effect, after yet another devastating war, the Church is still suffering the aftermath of intense bombardment and resulting mass displacement. Religious sisters are doing everything they can to provide material aid and pastoral support to traumatized Christian communities.   During a visit to Lebanon by staff of the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) at the end of last month, multiple project partners, struggling ...