Life is not easy for Christians in Honduras, who must deal with criminal gangs, poverty, and a shortage of vocations. Veronica Katz, project coordinator for Central America at the international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), recently visited the country and says that the fruits of pastoral work and the commitment of the country’s Catholic community are a source of hope.

A pilgrim image of Our Lady of Fátima, blessed by Pope Paul VI in 1967, was recently at the international headquarters of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in Königstein, Germany. The executive president of ACN International, Regina Lynch, stressed the connection between ACN and the message of Fátima, referring to the Virgin Mary, who appeared to shepherd children in 1917, as the organisation’s “patron saint”.

Thousands of faithful signed a petition addressed to Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith, asking that he open a cause for the beatification of the 171 Catholics who were murdered five years ago.

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) expresses its deepest concern and sorrow following the kidnapping and subsequent killing of the catechist Edouard Yougbare from the parish of Saatenga in Fada Gourma, Burkina Faso.

Local community leaders say that the attacks follow the tactics employed by armed bandits who carried out the Christmas massacres in Nigeria. Religion is a factor in a conflict that also has ethnic and economic roots.

Six bishops from the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have written an “assessment of the pastoral and social situation” of the country following a meeting which took place in Butembo, from 8-14 April, and which paints a desolating picture of the state of the country, criticising the way “the dignity of the Congolese people” is being undermined. The eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri have been under martial law since 2021, due to regular attacks by armed militias, which have even resulted in the surrounding of the city of Goma since the end of February.

A bishop from Equatorial Guinea reflects on the causes and consequences of migration in the African continent and asks for a more effective focus on the fight against poverty and illegal emigration.

In December, Maxime François-Marsal, the coordinator of ACN’s projects in French-speaking countries in Central Africa, travelled to Congo-Brazzaville, also known as the Republic of the Congo. This nation borders Angola, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, among others. In this interview, he speaks about the situation of the Congolese Church and how Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has contributed to its development.

For a year, the “war of the generals” has been raging across an already weakened country. The population is in agony, and the small Christian community is shrinking away.

A bishop in Pakistan has expressed his disappointment with the authorities for failing to bring to justice those behind one of the country’s worst attacks against Christians – and for not doing enough to help victims.

Aid to the Church in Need is helping the local Church serve new and growing communities of people who are moving from rural to urban areas, often in poor conditions.

Six months after the terrible attacks by Hamas and the beginning of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, Abbot Nikodemus pleas for the conflict to be seen from a humanitarian perspective, transcending religious and political boundaries.

A seminary operated by the Spiritan missionaries in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, was attacked by armed gangsters. The religious and staff had to hide for six hours while the premises were looted before managing to escape to safety.

In the suffering of what Pope Francis has repeatedly called the “martyred people of Ukraine” we can see many traces of Jesus’ Passion and Crucifixion. This Holy Week, ACN invites you to meditate on this modern Way of the Cross.

The head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church delivered a powerful message of hope during the Mass celebrated for the persecuted Church at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, organized by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) to raise awareness about Ukraine's plight.

Fr Idahosa Amadasu, from the Diocese of Benin, is one of hundreds of Catholic priests who has been kidnapped and held for ransom by armed bandits in Nigeria over the past few decades. For several days, he suffered fear, humiliation, hunger and cold, but he found strength in his faith in Jesus to endure a difficult situation from which he did not know if he would emerge alive. This Holy Week, Aid to the Church in Need wants to share his story of faith. (His account has been edited for clarity and length.)

In a message dated 18 March, the Catholic bishops of Haiti expressed profound concern about the violence that is sweeping the country. The letter, which was sent to international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) and which is signed by all 10 of the country’s Catholic bishops, calls for an end to all violence and for national reconciliation, echoing a recent appeal by Pope Francis.

Archbishop Matthew Man’Oso Ndagoso visited the village of Adama Dutse, which was attacked in February, leaving widespread destruction and 11 dead.

24 February 2024 marked the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Like the whole population, the seminarians are exhausted by this war. But uplifted by hope, they want to be a sign of God's presence where they are.