“The teaching of Pope Benedict, who dedicated his first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est to the subject of charity, has been very valuable to ACN.”

Senegal is known for being one of western Africa’s most politically stable countries. However, there is an open conflict between the Senegalese military and the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MDFC) in the country’s southern Casamance region, which began 40 years ago.

Because of the danger of terrorism, the Church in norther Benin is restricted in the exercise of its pastoral work, ACN reports.

“I am married, I have three kids. If I am only a teacher, nowadays, I cannot give them what they need. I need to juggle more jobs to provide for them. This takes time from me, so I cannot prepare my classes as much as I used to."

One of the school’s students, 15-year-old Christine, was returning home from school with a classmate when a bomb detonated near them. Christine lost a foot, but her friend was killed.

Our Bishops’ Conference and our cardinal recently requested all our Catholics and non-Catholics not to celebrate Christmas in a fabulous manner, spending money o unnecessary things, but to use that money to help the poor.”