Head of the Chaldean Church reveals what he discussed in recent meeting with Iraq’s prime minister. Eleven years after jihadists forced him to leave his homeland, the newly-elected Patriarch of the Chaldean Church heard a promise directly from Iraq’s prime minister: Iraqis who choose to return to the country will receive the gift of a new home and land. Patriarch Paul III Nona of Baghdad met recently with Iraqi Prime Minister Ali Falih al Zaidi, and the churchman was struck ...

Archbishop Paul Coakley expresses gratitude for America’s many blessings – and offers an example of someone that US Catholics could emulate. As the United States of America celebrates her 250th anniversary, the president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops says that being faithful to the Gospel is the best way Catholics can build up the nation. And he has a particular American Catholic in mind as a model for that fidelity. “I think the first thing that comes to ...

ACN’s aid is currently supporting the religious and laity who are helping the victims on the ground, but future projects are already being studied and could include rebuilding church structures and trauma healing. The situation in La Guaira, Venezuela, can only be described as “apocalyptic,” according to the executive president of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Regina Lynch. “I was not expecting this extent of destruction,” said Lynch. “When you arrive there and you see these mountains of ...

Bishops in Pakistan say that a recent Supreme Court decision is part of a cycle of injustice for victims of persecution. Bishops in Pakistan have spoken of their dismay after the country’s Supreme Court quashed the sentences of three men convicted of killing a Christian man and his pregnant wife, who were burned to death after being thrown into a brick kiln. In interviews with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishops Samson Shukardin and Indrias Rehmat ...

“Seeing people embrace us and seek comfort in us is a sign that the Church’s mission is to be with the people,” says a future priest. Germán Jiménez, a seminarian from the Diocese of Petare, Venezuela, is in the final stage of formation before his ordination to the priesthood. From the very first moment following the double earthquake on June 24, he mobilized to bring material and spiritual aid to thousands of victims in La Guaira, the worst-affected region. According ...

City authorities want religious organizations to be subject to the “Arnona.” A bishop explains why an exemption should continue to be granted. Israel’s municipal property tax, known as “Arnona,” has become the center of a new standoff between Churches and the municipality of Jerusalem. Christian leaders fear that challenging the exemptions enjoyed by certain ecclesiastical properties could compromise their religious, educational and social activities. In a conversation with Aid to the Church in Need International (ACN), Bishop William Shomali, Auxiliary ...