Ongoing attacks point to need for greater security. Local bishop appealing to government for more military camps. Some members of the group kidnapped from St. Mary’s School in Papiri, Niger State, Nigeria, were kept in cages, a priest said in an interview with Aid to the Church in Need-USA. Fr. Luka Joseph Jatau, director of the Justice and Peace Development Commission in the Diocese of Kontagora, Nigeria, spoke by phone with the pontifical foundation January 6, discussing details of the ...

Amid a context of deep social and political uncertainty in Venezuela, marked by recent events that have captured international attention, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) reaffirms its commitment to the local Church and to the people of Venezuela, supporting them through prayer, solidarity, and concrete assistance. Venezuela continues to face complex challenges after years of economic, social, and humanitarian crisis, leaving many people struggling to meet basic needs and prompting persistent calls for peace, dialogue, and national reconciliation. ...

Civilians are once again the main victims as the Kurdish-led SDF and forces loyal to the government in Damascus, Syria try to take control of the country’s second most important city. The Church has opened the doors of its buildings to displaced families. Christians in Aleppo, Syria are calling for prayers from the international community as violence returns to the city. Government forces and members of the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), a Kurdish-led coalition based in northeast Syria, have been ...

Aid to the Church in Need-International (ACN) is calling for special prayers for residents of Aleppo, Syria. The situation in the city is worsening due to renewed clashes, with casualties and many injured, said Maria Lozano, head of press for ACN late Tuesday. Reuters reported that fighting in the northern Syrian city left at least four people dead and several others wounded. The Syrian government and the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces are blaming each other for the violence. “The clashes ...

The New Year has not begun peacefully in Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Kontagora. Just as the final days of 2025 were marked by violence and fear, early January 2026 has brought fresh bloodshed, including the massacre of 42 men in the village of Kasuwan Daji, not far from Papiri, where more than 200 schoolchildren were abducted in November. Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) expresses its deep concern and strongly condemns the recent wave of violent attacks in the ...

Emmanuel Alabi won’t appear on anyone’s end-of-year list of notable deaths of 2025. Nor will Fr. Alloyce Cheruiyot Bett or Sister Evanette Onezaire. But while their passing won’t be noted by any mainstream media’s list of celebrity deaths, their names do appear in a report that a Vatican agency routinely issues at year’s end. According to Fides, the information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies, 17 Catholic missionaries and pastoral workers were killed during the past 12 months. They include ...