The Voice of the suffering in Middle East

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 ...

For three months, Gaza received no aid convoys, which meant that the Holy Family parish had to ration its resources to feed the Christians within and some of the families that live nearby.  The situation in Gaza, in the Holy Land, continues to be “very bad,” according to Father Gabriel Romanelli, who is responsible for the only Catholic parish in the territory.    When the current war in Gaza broke out, the entire Christian population took refuge in the Holy Family ...

Cardinal Joseph Coutts, one of Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need’s longest-serving project partners in Pakistan, has issued an impassioned plea for prayers ahead of next week’s conclave.   In a video message received Friday, May 2nd, shortly after he arrived in Rome, the former Archbishop of Karachi, who was made cardinal by Pope Francis in June 2018, stressed that now is “the critical time” for prayers for the conclave.   He said, “Now that many cardinals – more than ...