The Catholic Diocese of Makurdi, in Nigeria’s Middle Belt region, suffered 119 attacks against the settled populations by Fulani herdsmen between January and the end of December 2023.

ACN joins the Pope in asking for the immediate and unconditional release of the religious sisters from the Congregation of Saint Anne and for an end to the violence that plagues Haiti.

During a visit to the headquarters of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishop Miguel Angel Nguema Bee of Ebibeyin recounted the moving story of the first catechist to be martyred in Equatorial Guinea, José Si Esono, whom the local Church would like to see beatified. The bishop also spoke about the role played by catechists in the country today.

Three weeks after extremists murdered more than 300 people, burnt down entire villages and destroyed food supplies in coordinated attacks in Nigeria’s Plateau State, none of the perpetrators have been held to account.

Thanks to the generosity of Aid to the Church in Need’s benefactors, a growing Catholic school in Erbil was able to open a new kindergarten to accommodate the increasing number of children.

Nineteen clerics were released and expelled from the country, adding to the dozens of others who have been exiled in the past few years. The restrictions on religious freedom continue in a country where four out of nine dioceses now have bishops living abroad, says Regina Lynch, executive president of Aid to the Church in Need.

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) provides health support to elderly religious sisters in northeast Brazil. Despite their age, the sisters remain active in their communities and continue praying for their benefactors.

Thirteen priests and one religious brother were murdered in 2023, though half were killed for reasons apparently unrelated to persecution. Arrests increased, while kidnappings of clergy and religious dropped compared to 2022, but it remains a serious concern, especially in Africa.

Yet another attack by Muslim Fulani bandits against settled communities has left Christians displaced and in despair with the lack of security and government response.

While many Christian families have fled to safer areas, priests and religious stay to minister to those who remain to look after their homes or are too old or frail to relocate, ACN is helping with food packages and medical assistance, as well as access to online education for students in Catholic schools in the area.

Maria Antónia Cabral uses only recycled material to produce traditional Portuguese devotional images which clients buy to give as gifts. All proceeds go to support Christians through Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).

Since 1968, the Church has celebrated 1 January, the feast day of Mary, Mother of God, as the “International Day of Peace”. That year, Pope Paul VI called on everybody to unite for this one purpose, expressing the Catholic Church’s wish of “dedicating to thoughts and resolutions of Peace a special observance on the first day of the civil year”.

Regina Lynch, executive president of Aid to the Church in Need, highlights the worrying increase in religious freedom violations around the world but also the positive reaction to ACN campaigns such as Red Wednesday and One Million Children Praying the Rosary.

How a little ray of hope brightened the darkness for a family in Damascus during Christmas

With the world’s eyes on Gaza, few are aware that the Palestinians in the West Bank are also suffering the social and economic effects of the war in the Holy Land. Aid to the Church in Need has been accompanying Christians in the Holy Land since the very beginning of the war.

Two women were shot dead by snipers in the church grounds of the Catholic Holy Family parish in Gaza City on December 16, according to a press release by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, sent to the international charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Seven other people were injured. On the same day, several projectiles hit the convent of the Missionaries of Charity, which is in the same compound and housed more than 50 people with disabilities.

The head of the Catholic Church in Ukraine met with Aid to the Church in Need to discuss the country's challenges.

Christmas can be a difficult time for poor families who cannot buy gifts for their children. In Lebanon, an ACN-funded project aims to provide gifts for poor families and bring joy and hope to families.

This year, 35,000 children in Syria and 10,000 in Lebanon will receive Christmas presents and urgently needed clothing. Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is sending over half a million euros to these two countries to bring joy to the children on Christmas Eve and show them they are not forgotten.