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News of the Suffering and Persecuted
Find the latest updates on the struggles and resilience of persecuted communities around the world. Stay connected to learn how hope continues to shine through suffering.
Pope Leo XIV calls for renewed commitment to defend religious freedom and stand with persecuted Christians
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Holy Father receives Aid to the Church in Need in private audience This morning, October 10, Pope Leo XIV received pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) International in a private audience at the Vatican, marking 25 years of the foundation’s continued mission to defend the right to religious freedom and to give a voice to Christians who suffer for their faith around the world. During the audience, the Holy Father addressed the members of the foundation with ...
Gaza: First step toward peace after 733 days of war
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While indirect talks are taking place in Egypt between Israeli envoys and Hamas, the hope for a beginning of peace is cautiously laying roots in the Holy Land. The parish priest of the Catholic parish in Gaza spoke to Aid to Church in Need (ACN) about the heavy toll from two years of war. “Two years of war: it seems unbelievable,” Fr. Gabriel Romanelli, pastor of Holy Family parish, the only Catholic parish in Gaza City, told Aid to the ...
American kids double the number taking part in One Million Children Praying the Rosary
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About 22,000 American children took part in Aid to the Church in Need’s One Million Children Praying the Rosary initiative on Tuesday, more than double last year’s figure. It was the 20th anniversary of the ACN initiative, which began in 2005 as a small event in Venezuela. The inspiration originally came from a saying attributed to St. Pio of Pietrelcina (“Padre Pio”): “When a million children pray the Rosary, the world will change.” The initiative was given a boost Tuesday, ...
In Syria, a night of explosions and fear: “We don’t know what is going to happen,” priest tells ACN
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In the midst of a new wave of fighting, the Argentine priest describes hours of anguish in Aleppo, Syria. His parish has once again become a refuge for dozens of families. With the sound of loud explosions and heavy weapons in the background, Fr. Hugo Alaniz, who has been a missionary in Aleppo for over a decade, tells Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) about one of the most difficult days that the city’s Christian community has experienced in ...
New York priest who served at the Vatican appointed ACN’s Ecclesiastical Assistant
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Aid to the Church in Need-USA, a pontifical foundation that helps Christians around the world live their faith under the most difficult circumstances, has appointed Msgr. Luke M. Sweeney, a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, to serve as its ecclesiastical assistant. Msgr. Sweeney, who formerly served at the Vatican Congregation for Bishops, now is Vice Rector and Dean of Seminarians at St. Joseph’s Seminary (Dunwoodie) in Yonkers, New York. He is responsible for the human formation of seminarians ...
Why religious freedom is so important, according to editor of new report
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Wherever religious freedom flourishes, peace and justice advance. But wherever it is denied, oppression follows. That’s why Aid to the Church in Need’s Religious Freedom in the World Report is much more than a compilation of statistics. It is a wakeup call. So says Marta Petrosillo, editor-in-chief of the report, due to be released October 21. ACN has been publishing the biannual Religious Freedom in the World Report for the past quarter century. It details the state of religious freedom ...
