Thirty years ago, on July 11, 1995, at least 8,372 men were murdered by troops under Bosnian Serb general Ratko Mladic, in the Muslim enclave of Srebrenica in Bosnia. Between 40,000 and 60,000 people had taken refuge in an area controlled by United Nations peacekeepers, who had committed to protecting the population. The victims, overwhelmingly Muslim, were men between the ages of 13 and 75. This was an operation of “ethnic cleansing,” aimed at building a Christian Orthodox Great Serbia, at ...

The Church in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley is thriving, despite the ongoing armed conflict and economic instability. Christian families and individuals are offering a powerful witness by looking after those displaced by the war. New religious congregations are also on the rise, helping to keep the Faith alive in Christianity’s heartland in the Middle East. The Beqaa Valley, known as Lebanon’s breadbasket, has been hit hard by regional tensions. While Hezbollah strongholds in Shia-majority areas have been heavily targeted, Christian villages ...

Like the 9/11 Memorial in lower Manhattan, a public memorial park dedicated to the victims of a deadly Pentecost Sunday attack on a church in Nigeria provided consolation to those who lost loved ones. Now, for reasons that are still unclear, the Governor of Ondo State in southwestern Nigeria, decided to demolish the public memorial. The demolition was carried out earlier this week. On Wednesday, June 25, the Catholic Diocese of Ondo issued a statement saying that it has sought ...

It is with sadness and gratitude that Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) bids farewell to Bishop Paul Thabet Habib of Alqosh, who passed away on June 20, following a battle with cancer. To us, he was not only a close partner, but a true companion in mission.  Bishop Thabet Habib Yousif Mansor Almako played a key role during the most difficult years for Christians in Iraq. In 2014, when ISIS forced more than 120,000 people to flee the ...

The Mercedarian Sisters were the second congregation to suffer an armed robbery in a matter of days, as the violence in northern Mozambique steadily worsens.   The Mercedarian Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament in the Diocese of Pemba, Mozambique endured a near-death experience on June 8, when the home they run was broken into by a group of men armed with guns and machetes.  The four sisters, who care for about 30 young girls, were robbed of all their valuables and ...

“We feel that we are alone”: The priest echoes the pain of the Christian community after the attack in Damascus last Sunday.  “Christians in Syria are feeling a great pain. The Christian community throughout Syria is going through a moment of deep sadness: the loss of 30 Christians who died in this attack. So far, there are 54 wounded.” This is what Father Fadi Azar, a Franciscan priest in Syria, said in an interview with Aid to the Church in ...