The Voice of the suffering in Middle East

A church sheltering displaced people was hit in a missile attack, killing at least eight in Derdghaya, southern Lebanon, on Wednesday, October 9th, according to local Church sources.  The sources told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that the church and two of its adjoining halls, which were used as a refuge in the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Tyre, collapsed in the airstrike.  They added that another missile hit a priest’s house and a three-story building ...

As the bishop of Latin rite Catholics in Syria, the Franciscan Hanna Jallouf is very familiar with Idlib Governorate, the last rebel stronghold, where he served as a pastor for 22 years until his appointment as bishop in September 2023. In a conversation with an ACN delegation, he reports on the challenges for Christians who remained there. “Of the 10,000 or so Christians who lived in Idlib Governorate before the war, there are today only about 650, mainly older people ...

Despite ongoing airstrikes, a religious sister has decided to stay in the monastery of St. Joseph in Ain Ebel, southern Lebanon, just three miles from the Israeli border, to accompany the Christian community. “There are still some 9,000 Christians here in three different villages. We are in constant danger,” reported Sister Maya El Beaino of the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. “There is no hospital in the area, no Red Cross, and we have only three ...

On September 29th, the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Aid to the Church in Need takes a closer look at Christian migrants and refugees in the Holy Land, where the Church is fighting for their rights.   Christians have lived in the Holy Land since the earliest days of the Church, and they face many challenges now – not only the Palestinian Christian community, but the Christians who live in Israel as migrants and asylum seekers.  Official numbers are hard ...

ACN projects in southern Lebanon are mostly emergency in nature and are needed now more than ever before. The foundation is already thinking of additional ways to help thousands of displaced people, many of whom have taken shelter in churches.  The wave of airstrikes targeting Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon is having a devastating effect on the entire population, including Christians, and could drive even more to leave the country, says Marielle Boutros, project coordinator in Lebanon for the pontifical foundation ...

Through its support for a construction project in Iraqi Kurdistan, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has helped a religious order to strengthen its roots in the region, for the benefit of all Christians in Iraq.   Araden is a small village in the Sapna Valley, in Iraqi Kurdistan, surrounded by the beautiful Gozaneh mountains and watered by the Great Zab River. The scenery helps explain the origin of the village’s name” it is believed that Araden comes from the ...