Early on November 2nd, an explosion aimed at the police station in Guapi, southwest Colombia, killed three people and destroyed a large part of the bishop’s residence and the offices of the Apostolic Vicariate of Guapi.   The explosion left the Church buildings “practically destroyed, tearing down walls, doors, windows, and the ceilings of the curia and the bishops’ house, leaving them in ruins,” said Father Arnulfo Moreno Quiñonez, the provicar of Guapi, who expressed his grief for the loss of ...

Terrorism in eastern Burkina Faso has shaken the Diocese of Fada N’Gourma. Attacks in the parishes of Piéla and Saatenga caused many deaths and significant material destruction, and follow a pattern of terrorist violence that the country has seen since 2015. “The attacks are multiplying. We ask for your fervent prayer. Pray for the victims and for the fearful survivors,” asked a priest from the Diocese of Fada N’Gourma, speaking to the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in ...

Kidnapping for ransom has become an industry in Nigeria, and priests are often targeted.   On Sunday, October 27th, a priest was kidnapped at the minor seminary where he worked and was taken by armed bandits into bushes.   Armed gunmen broke into the Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary, in the Diocese of Auchi, Edo State, Nigeria, at around 7:00 P.M. and fired shots into the air, causing panic among students and staff, according to a diocesan statement sent to Aid to the ...

ACN supported the construction of a new floor for a kindergarten in Enishke, allowing it to expand its services, receive more children from families in the surrounding villages, including Kurds and Yazidis, and help sow the seeds of peace and fraternity for future generations.  The Enishke village is located in the Diocese of Dohuk, in a mountainous region of Iraqi Kurdistan in northern Iraq.   Christian, Kurdish, and Yazidi families live in the many settlements around Enishke, struggling to survive in ...

The international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is organizing activities in more than 20 countries to commemorate Red Wednesday on November 20th. This annual event aims to shed light on the persecution faced by Christians worldwide and the fundamental right to religious freedom.  Throughout Europe, the Americas, and Oceania, approximately 300 ACN events will take place in hundreds of cities. What initially started as a single day of solidarity, during which churches and secular buildings were ...

Confidential sources contacted by ACN speak of a worsening of discrimination against Christian communities in two villages in the Mopti region of Mali. According to information received by the intentional Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), an Islamic extremist group that is active in the region has recently imposed a tax of 25,000 CFA Francs (about 40 dollars) on all Christians over the age of 18 in Douna-Pen, the largest Christian village in eastern Koro, Mopti.   This ...