An Indonesian priest recalls how Pope Francis’s visit to his country, where Christians are a small but vibrant minority, illustrates his legacy as a Pope of simplicity, close to the peripheries of the Church.   Pope Francis’s visit to Asia and Oceania in September 2024 remains a symbol of his concern with the peripheries and with Christian communities, however small they might be. At the time, Francis visited East Timor and Papua New Guinea, which are mostly Christian, but also Indonesia, ...

In their last public meeting before entering the Conclave – the secret meetings to elect a new pope – the College of Cardinals discussed the issue of martyrs, especially those in lands where Christians suffer persecution or are deprived of religious freedom. The 12th and final Congregation of Cardinals took place Tuesday morning, May 6, with 173 cardinals present. Among them were 130 who are eligible to elect a new pope – and one of them who will emerge as ...

Over 1,000 benefactors of the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), from 23 different countries, will be participating in a pilgrimage to Rome from May 7-10, 2025, within the context of the Jubilee that officially began with the opening of the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica on December 24, 2024.    “The theme ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ resonates especially with our pontifical foundation, since it is the underlying reason for the work we do: to take hope to ...

Cardinal Joseph Coutts, one of Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need’s longest-serving project partners in Pakistan, has issued an impassioned plea for prayers ahead of next week’s conclave.   In a video message received Friday, May 2nd, shortly after he arrived in Rome, the former Archbishop of Karachi, who was made cardinal by Pope Francis in June 2018, stressed that now is “the critical time” for prayers for the conclave.   He said, “Now that many cardinals – more than ...

Christians are a small minority in Turkey. With priests serving the scattered faithful, Mass stipends provided by ACN are essential support.  “We do not forget you when we ascend to the Lord’s altar,” writes Father Massimiliano Testi, one of 26 priests in the Apostolic Vicariate of Istanbul to recently receive Mass stipends from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).  Turkey was once an ancient center of Christianity, but today, Christians are a tiny minority — “only 0.1 percent,” says ...

Spanish priest Father Alfonso Delgado, who arrived in Venezuela in the 1970s with a group of fellow missionaries, gradually found himself alone as the years passed and his companions passed away. However, he found a home among the Sisters of the Missionary Work of Jesus and Mary, a congregation that he had helped establish in Carora, in western Venezuela, over 50 years ago.  “A few months ago, when I was struck down by cancer, I did not know where to ...