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 ...

Life in Jerusalem’s Old City is difficult for the Christians who continue to live there, many of whom are poor. ACN has been helping these struggling families through projects carried out by the Latin Patriarchate.  The Old City of Jerusalem is a magical place to visit. The narrow, cobbled streets exude millennia of history and tradition, suffering and joy, victory and defeat, where Christians, Muslims, and Jews walk, work, and pray in a close proximity that is as prone to ...

Burkina Faso is celebrating 125 years of evangelization in a country currently marred by violence and terrorism. The African nation, which holds first place in the world terrorism ranking, suffers from severe security issues, constant attacks against civilian populations, and entire regions that can only be reached by helicopter.   Despite this situation, the Church in Burkina Faso is joyfully celebrating the arrival of the first members of the Society of Missionaries of Africa, known as the White Fathers, due to ...

A project supported by ACN aims to train 150 priests to be “agents of reconciliation, healing, social transformation, and national cohesion.”  Father Peter Konteh was in bed, asleep, when he first heard the explosions. Jumping to his feet, he called out to the other priest in the house to get up and run. “The rebels are coming from the east!” he said. “We must escape.”  “I was shouting terribly, but the other priest turned to me and told me to ...

A 22-year-old Christian man, Waqas Masih, was brutally attacked by his supervisor, Zohaib, at the Subhan Paper Mills factory in Sheikhupura, Punjab. The incident, which took place on March 22nd, highlights the persistent religious intolerance present in much of Pakistani society.  According to reports from the victim’s family, received by the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the attack was allegedly related to Waqas’s refusal to convert to Islam after being coerced by Zohaib. It is ...

Nigeria now accounts for over 80 percent of all incidents involving the murder, kidnapping, or unjust arrest of Catholic priests and religious in 2025.  Two more Catholic priests were kidnapped over the weekend in Nigeria, adding to what has been a terrible first quarter of the year in terms of security for religious in the African country.   According to statements sent to the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Father Stephen Echezona was abducted on Saturday in ...