“Six hundred and ninety-eight, six hundred and ninety-nine, seven hundred.” Mathieu passes pebbles from one side to another. Seven hundred in all, one for each of the Hail Marys he has prayed that night. A night which to him feels like the evening in Gethsemane, in the Garden of Olives, where Jesus also felt alone, abandoned by His disciples, where He spent the night praying to the Father, presenting His pleas and asking for the strength to bear His suffering ...

Father Gabriel Romanelli says that living with 500 people in a closed compound is not easy, but that the Christians in Gaza consider themselves fortunate to have survived thus far and to be able to help thousands of other families in the region.   The parish priest of Holy Family Parish in Gaza, Father Gabriel Romanelli, has made another desperate plea for peace in the war-torn region, stating that the rekindling of fighting between Israel and Hamas is just making the ...

Bishop Papias Musengamana of the Diocese of Byumba in northwest Rwanda recently visited the international headquarters of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). He told the pontifical foundation how his diocese recovered from the near-complete absence of priests after the 1994 genocide and spoke about the meaning of pastoral work with families and young people.   Last year, the Church in Rwanda began the celebrations of a two-year double jubilee: the 125th anniversary of the evangelization of the country and ...

Bishop Habila Daboh of the Diocese of Zaria in Nigeria spoke to ACN about the difficult situation for Christians in the north of the country, but also insists that, despite everything, his people are happy, because they have Jesus Christ. Christians in northern Nigeria have to endure many difficulties. An assortment of jihadist activity, common criminality, and tribal rivalries poses a direct threat to their safety and lives, aggravated by the imposition of Sharia law in several regions.   Nonetheless, according ...

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) deeply mourns the tragic loss of two religious sisters from the Congregation of the Little Sisters of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus, who were brutally murdered on Monday, March 31st, by armed gangs in Mirebalais, about 31 miles northeast of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.  Sisters Evanette Onezaire and Jeanne Voltaire were in the city on a mission when they found themselves needing to take refuge with other civilians from an attack ...

A Christian leader from the Holy Land has appealed to UK parliamentarians, calling for a “courageous spirit of leadership” to bring about peace.   On April 1st, at a packed cross-party meeting in the UK Parliament, Bishop William Shomali, Patriarchal Vicar for Jerusalem and Palestine, described the impact of the violence since October 7th, 2023 on the lives of people in the Holy Land, especially the West Bank and Gaza.   Bishop Shomali, who has been visiting the UK as a guest ...