The Christian community in Burkina Faso is in mourning, following the murder of two catechists in a violent attack on Saturday, January 25th, in the Diocese of Dédougou. The victims belonged to the parish of Ouakara and were attacked close to Bondokuy by two armed men, while returning from a training session on the life and ministry of catechists.  According to local sources who spoke to the aid organization Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), four catechists were traveling ...

Two weeks after the M23 armed group attacked the city of Goma, there is still fighting in the province of North Kivu, in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, worsening humanitarian conditions in the region. A missionary in the country tells ACN that over 2,000 people have been killed, and that hospitals are overrun with the wounded. Even refugee camps have been attacked.  The province of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo is facing a terrible humanitarian ...

ACN dedicates its Lent campaign to the persecuted Church. The Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is launching a new campaign at the beginning of Lent. “Martyrs of Our Days: Witnesses of Hope” is a call to show solidarity with persecuted Christians around the world. Inspired by Pope Francis’ invitation to celebrate a Jubilee of Hope, this campaign aims to highlight that despite the persecution they suffer, today’s martyrs continue to be examples of consolation, faith, and ...

After centuries of prohibition, the small Catholic community of Estonia is rising from the ashes. On September 26th, 2024, Pope Francis erected the first diocese in the country. On November 1st of the same year, during an address to the Catholic Church of Estonia to mark the centenary of the creation of its first apostolic administration, Pope Francis congratulated it for being an “example of faith,” despite “decades of suffering, occupation, and oppression”, and stated that “this admirable legacy of ...

For many years, ACN has provided support, especially through scholarships, to members of the Assumption Sisters of Eldoret. Using the skills obtained through this aid, the sisters have been helping girls on the street in Nairobi.  In Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, there are over 60,000 street families, including thousands of boys and girls who do not go to school and are often addicted to drugs or involved in other illegal activities, Sister Caroline Ngatia tells ACN, during a visit ...

Translated into approximately 200 languages, ACN’s Child’s Bible is the only book that some children own in their native language. Now, with the help of ACN, Father Stefaan Lecleir, a missionary priest in South Sudan, is having the Child’s Bible translated in Pazande, the language spoken by the Azande people in parts of South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.  “About 95 percent of the people in my parish are illiterate,” explains Father Stefaan ...