The Voice of the suffering and persecuted​

"Let us prepare the way for the Lord who is to come – and if we perceive that our own life is clouded over and we do not clearly see the light that shines forth from Bethlehem, from Jesus, then now is the time to remove the obstacles."

“There is no hope here. The situation gets worse every day,” says the father, whose eyes are sunken. The mother adds, “The only thing I ask God for every day is that He protect my children and provide them with something to eat.”

“Just as Mass was finishing, we heard the first gunshots. The bandits soon realized that their guns couldn’t kill people quickly enough, so they lit dynamite and threw that into the crowd,”

According to ACN’s project partners, the two women killed were Samar Anton and her mother Nahida. Both were fatally injured when they tried to get to safety in a parish building. The Latin Patriarchate said that the snipers were Israeli military, which the Israel Defense Forces have denied.  

“The idea that politics corrupts has led to a situation where even countries with a great number of Catholics are bereft of politicians who can reflect Christian values.”

In both countries, clothes are almost unobtainable. Sister Annie Demerjian of the Congregation of Jesus and Mary, who has worked on this project with ACN for years, laments, “Many families here can only dream of new clothes! These days, to buy a pair of trousers, a shirt, and shoes in Syria, you need two months of minimum wage.”

“The voices of Muslim scholars have become very important, especially where the government and the armed forces find it difficult to intervene. One of the results of our dialogue is that, for the first time, many Muslim scholars stood with us."

While the situation in Gaza worsens every day, thousands of Christians in the Holy Land have already benefited from ACN support, including meals, food coupons, payments for rent or utilities, and medical supplies.

"I see abandoned village communities. These people feel that nobody cares about them. They die like animals, without even a health center. They must be reminded that they are children of God."

"The serious challenges facing our country are the results of corruption and the oppressive sanctions of Syria, which directly affect the people."