“We have seen plenty of improvement in these girls. They find meaning, and they can face the challenges life has for them.”  For International Women’s Day, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) spoke to Sister Marie Akl, a religious from the Congregation of the Good Shepherd, about her valuable work in the shelter for vulnerable young people in Nabaa, Lebanon, where children and adolescents manage to overcome their trauma through workshops, integral care, and even personal defense classes.   Who ...

This year alone, five priests and two religious sisters have been kidnapped in Nigeria. Besides Father Sylvester Okechukwu, who was murdered, two remain missing, while the other four were released.  A Catholic priest was kidnapped and murdered in the Diocese of Kafanchan, in Nigeria.  Father Sylvester Okechukwu was taken from his residence on the evening of March 4th, according to a statement released by the diocese. He was found murdered in the early hours of March 5th, the same document ...

Gaza is currently experiencing a fragile peace, but a visiting delegation from ACN found that the situation in the West Bank has not improved for Christians, who must struggle to find reasons to hope in the future.  It takes around 20 minutes to drive from Ain ‘Arik to Ben Gurion Airport. Or it could, if not for the roadblocks and the fact that Palestinians have been forbidden from using Ben Gurion since the beginning of the war in Gaza.   The ...

Three years of war have increased the spiritual needs of soldiers in Ukraine. Military chaplains are at their side day after day, helping them bear their suffering. These chaplains have told ACN about how they bring God’s love and presence into the midst of death and destruction.   “Without daily Mass, daily rosary, and personal prayer, I can’t imagine how I could hold out here!” Father Witalij Novak is a military chaplain – the only one in his brigade of 3,000 ...

Bishop Simon Kulli of Sapë, in northern Albania, speaks of the Albanian martyrs and their witness of hope for the Church, during a visit to the international headquarters of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), as part of this year’s Lent Campaign.  You were born at a time when Christianity was forbidden in Albania. How was faith transmitted in your family during the communist regime?  I was born in Albania 52 years ago, at the height of the communist ...

In the three years since the large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has approved and financed 977 projects, including 175 requests for Mass stipends, amounting to $3.6 million. In total, more than 26 million dollars was available to help the Catholic Church of both rites across the whole of Ukraine.   The support of ACN covered both the Greek Catholic and Latin Catholic Churches, including all 17 Greek Catholic ...