Until November 2022, several Catholic parishes and a Redemptorist monastery were still operating in the occupied territories, but in mid-November, two Redemptorist Fathers, Ivan Levitskyi, C.SS.R., and Bohdan Heleta, C.SS.R., one of whom suffers from a severe form of diabetes, were arrested by Russian troops and are still being held at an unknown location.

And as has happened in similar cases previously, an offense against Muslims in Europe is having serious repercussions for Christian communities in Muslim-majority countries.  

After more than a decade of war and, consequently, an unstable economy,ACN will help 45,574 young people participate in 273 summer camps, which aim to recover their stamina and heal their wounds.

“What we aspire to is a generation of conscious youth, who will become part of the Church’s presence in Iraq. The Ankawa Youth Meeting is a big part of realizing this hope. It builds faith and friendships, removes isolation, and impacts their lives and their families.”

"At the beginning, I found it hard to deal with this situation psychologically, but then I asked the Lord, during the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, to give me an answer. That was when courage started to flow through me."

According to the bishop, this new cathedral is “a sign of unity for all the city’s inhabitants,” adding that “in a city with more than 600 mosques, it is important to show that the Catholic Church also has space in Maroua.”