The Vatican has confirmed that Pope Leo XIV will visit Algeria, making this the country’s first-ever visit from a current pope. Leo, an Augustinian by formation, will visit Algiers and Hippo Regius – the historical name of Annaba – following in the footsteps of St. Augustine. In this interview with Aid to the Church in Need, Bishop Michel Jean-Paul Guillaud of Constantine-Hippone speaks about expectations for the visit and how the Church endures in the mostly Muslim nation of Algeria. ...

The only diocese in Mauritania has just celebrated its sixtieth anniversary. Bishop Victor Ndione, who has led the Diocese of Nouakchott for two years, tells Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) about the challenges of being a pastor in a transit country marked by clandestine migration, as well as the Church’s lack of resources. What is it that makes your diocese unique? The Church in Mauritania, which has just one diocese established in December 1965, comprises around ...

In eastern Ukraine people have grown numb to the danger of air raids but faith is growing. A bishop tells ACN that “without your help we would be like refugees.” People living in the east of Ukraine have been living in a state of conflict since 2014. The full-scale invasion by Russia in 2022 only intensified that experience. “Nobody expected the war to start in 2014, and then the situation got much worse after the invasion in 2022,” says Auxiliary ...

Thousands of Catholics in northeast Nigeria have returned to church in defiance of fear, following more than 15 years of violent insurgencies. Bishop John Bakeni and Bishop Oliver Doeme of the Diocese of Maiduguri in Borno State, Nigeria told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that worshipers were coming back “in their thousands, not hundreds.” Whuabazhi Pilgrimage Center – which ACN helped build – has seen record numbers attending. The bishops said: “People come back healed…it’s a ...

Former Red Bull executive joins ACN following a successful international career in the media and education sector. The pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need-International (ACN) has announced the appointment of Ferdinand Habsburg as its Secretary General. The appointment was formally made by Executive President Regina Lynch January 13 and follows the appointment by Pope Leo XIV of Cardinal Kurt Koch as the President of ACN International in November 2025. Habsburg, an Austrian national, is 60 years old, married ...

In the Taraba State region, according to Church figures, over 100 people have been killed and 90,000 displaced since September 2025. Following a fresh massacre, the Church in Nigeria’s Middle Belt has again called for action to address extremist violence. Ten villagers died in Tuesday’s February 10 attack on Mchia in Taraba State, northeastern Nigeria, apparently carried out by militant members of the Fulani herder community. On February 12, senior clerics from Wukari Diocese – Fr. Anthony Bature, Fr. James ...