The Voice of the suffering in Middle East

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 ...

Christians are a small minority in Turkey. With priests serving the scattered faithful, Mass stipends provided by ACN are essential support.  “We do not forget you when we ascend to the Lord’s altar,” writes Father Massimiliano Testi, one of 26 priests in the Apostolic Vicariate of Istanbul to recently receive Mass stipends from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).  Turkey was once an ancient center of Christianity, but today, Christians are a tiny minority — “only 0.1 percent,” says ...

Christians in the Holy Land are very proud of their heritage but often have only a shaky understanding of the basic tenets of the Faith. The current Catholic leadership wants to improve this situation and to bridge the gaps in their Christian knowledge by engaging in a robust spiritual formation program, thanks to ACN’s partnership with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem (LPJ).  George Akroush puts it bluntly: “We belong to a tribe which is Christians of the Middle East, but ...

Father Gabriel Romanelli says that living with 500 people in a closed compound is not easy, but that the Christians in Gaza consider themselves fortunate to have survived thus far and to be able to help thousands of other families in the region.   The parish priest of Holy Family Parish in Gaza, Father Gabriel Romanelli, has made another desperate plea for peace in the war-torn region, stating that the rekindling of fighting between Israel and Hamas is just making the ...

A Christian leader from the Holy Land has appealed to UK parliamentarians, calling for a “courageous spirit of leadership” to bring about peace.   On April 1st, at a packed cross-party meeting in the UK Parliament, Bishop William Shomali, Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusalem and Palestine, described the impact of the violence since October 7th, 2023 on the lives of people in the Holy Land, especially the West Bank and Gaza.   Bishop Shomali, who has been visiting the UK as a guest ...