The Voice of the suffering and persecuted​

The Catholic eighth grader and two of his friends were injured the evening of Aug. 8 awhen motorcycle-riding gunmen attacked the Christian colony in the Mastung area of Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

A spiral of violence in Nigeria. The country with the largest population in Africa is experiencing an unprecedented scale of religious based violence which ACN warns could get even worse unless the international community unites to address and seek solutions to the issues.

“The sheriff called both the mayor of our village and the pharmacist. He confessed he slapped me in the face. However, he lied, claiming he was just kidding with me."

“I pleaded to let me return to my parents and I even quit eating for a few days. But he didn’t give in,” said Saba.

Although the archbishop is skeptical that the ruling party will allow the 2023 vote to be fair, the Church has been encouraging everyone to register and to try and change the country through the ballot box. The worst that can happen, he adds, is for the ruling party to use the violence and instability as an excuse to postpone the elections indefinitely.

"To be honest, even I am scared. Fear has taken the best out of us. But I will not stop preaching the Gospel, I will not stop winning souls for Christ, because that is my calling."

"We make sure the children get an education, from primary school even, if possible, to university. This is key to defeating Boko Haram. When people have training to secure their livelihood, then they don’t go and kill people."

“Thanks to the help of ACN benefactors, priests and religious can offset shortages of food, and basic hygiene and medical products felt by many of the internally displaced people. Furthermore, they can provide psychological and spiritual support to all those who are traumatized from losing their homes or loved ones."

But the port explosion was only the latest in a series of tragedies to hit Lebanon. Only a couple of years earlier, a financial crisis had sent the Lebanese pound tumbling, losing 20-fold its value in relation to the dollar. All of this was compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic, of course.

Our Lady continues to protect her children, both spiritually and physically.