Category: Those in Need

Gift from Pope John Paul II for Persecuted WYD11 Pilgrims
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Gift from Pope John Paul II for Persecuted WYD11 Pilgrims

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Rosaries and medals blessed by Pope John Paul II were given to young Catholics from persecuted countries at World Youth Day. Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), which held an exhibition about Christian persecution as part of World Youth Day’s cultural program in Madrid, gave the blessed objects to visitors to the […]

Muslim Persecution of Christians: July 2011
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Muslim Persecution of Christians: July 2011

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Because the persecution of Christians in the Islamic world is endemic, on its way to reaching epidemic proportions, I begin with this article a new series called “This Month in Muslim Persecution of Christians,” wherein some—by no means all—of the foulest instances of persecution that surface each month will be collated and assessed. The purpose […]

World Youth Day Exhibition Highlights Christian Persecution
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World Youth Day Exhibition Highlights Christian Persecution

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The persecution of Christians is being highlighted by an exhibition which has been organized as part of World Youth Day (WYD) 2011’s cultural program. The photographic and multimedia exhibition, “Persecuted Christians Today,” takes place in the Royal Church of Saint Jerome in Madrid from the 15th – 21st August, but a special preview was held […]

Building Chapels in India
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Building Chapels in India

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Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has come to the aid of islanders in the Bay of Bengal who could not afford to finish building chapels in rural areas with no priests. Bishop Alex Dias explained how parishioners in his Diocese of Port Blair, which covers the Andaman and Nicobar islands, have […]

Church Bombed in Iraq
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Church Bombed in Iraq

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A leading Catholic bishop in Iraq has spoken of his people’s shock and courage after a car bomb outside a church left 13 people injured. Archbishop Louis Sako of Kirkuk said he and his faithful “will never stop witnessing to Christ” in spite of the bomb which went off directly outside the Holy Family Syrian […]

Catholic Bishops, CRS Condemn Proposed Foreign Aid Budget Cuts
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Catholic Bishops, CRS Condemn Proposed Foreign Aid Budget Cuts

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The foreign assistance appropriations bill proposed by a House subcommittee “makes morally unacceptable, even deadly cuts to poverty-focused humanitarian and development assistance,” said Bishop Howard J. Hubbard of Albany, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Committee on International Justice and Peace, and Ken Hackett, President of Catholic Relief Services, in a […]

Peace and Goodwill for South Sudan?
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Peace and Goodwill for South Sudan?

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The peaceful creation of South Sudan bodes well for the fledgling nation, but disaster could yet unfold unless serious issues are addressed quickly, according to leading bishops in the region. Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala hailed the success of formalities on Saturday, July 9th, marking the independence of South Sudan, describing it as a “wonderful day […]

Northern Iraqi Christians Are a Bridge to Islam
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Northern Iraqi Christians Are a Bridge to Islam

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Christians are serving as a bridge to Islam in northern Iraq, according to a cofounder of the “Initiative Christian Orient.” Speaking in an interview with international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Professor Hans Hollerweger told ACN, “In northern Iraq Christians are a bridge to Islam. Hence the West must do […]

Optimism in Egypt Over Building Churches
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Optimism in Egypt Over Building Churches

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Obtaining permission to build new churches in Egypt could become almost as easy as constructing mosques, according to new government proposals which have won the backing of leading clergy. The plan, now in public consultation, proposes to do away with the existing laws whereby church-building plans require permission from the president himself. Instead, such proposals […]

Bishop Warns of “Impending Genocide in Sudan”
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Bishop Warns of “Impending Genocide in Sudan”

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A Catholic bishop in Sudan has warned of a possible new genocide in the country. In an interview with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishop Macram Max Gassis of El Obeid Diocese warned of further problems in South Kordofan, on the border between north and south Sudan, where there has been […]

Relentless Targeting of Churches in Indonesia
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Relentless Targeting of Churches in Indonesia

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Dozens of churches in Indonesia come under attack every year and the country’s president is failing to take action to stop it – according to a leading Catholic peace activist who has produced a report describing the scale of the problem. Since 2006, more than 200 attacks on churches have been recorded by the Indonesian […]

Christians Raped and Ransacked in the Muslim World
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Christians Raped and Ransacked in the Muslim World

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Plundering the possessions, lives, and dignity of Christians in the Islamic world: is this a random affair, a product of the West’s favorite offenders—poverty, ignorance, grievance—or is it systematic, complete with ideological backing? Consider the very latest from the Muslim world: Pakistan: Muslim landowners used tractors to plough over a Christian cemetery in order to […]

New Monastery in the Holy Land
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New Monastery in the Holy Land

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Monks living at an important biblical site will be leaving their earthquake-prone monastery for a new home – thanks to help from Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). ACN, which is helping with the building of a new monastery in Tabgha, Israel, received a progress update on the construction work from Fr. […]

God in the Ruins
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God in the Ruins

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Doomsday radio evangelist Harold Camping was wrong; the world did not end [two weekends ago]. But you could hardly tell from looking at Joplin [that] Sunday night, after the deadliest U.S. tornado in 60 years wiped out at least 122 lives and some 2,000 buildings. The apocalyptic storm that struck this southwest Missouri town left all […]

45 Seconds: Memoirs of an ER Doctor from May 22, 2011
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45 Seconds: Memoirs of an ER Doctor from May 22, 2011

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My name is Dr. Kevin Kikta, and I was one of two emergency room doctors who were on duty at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Joplin, MO on Sunday, May 22, 2011.  You never know that it will be the most important day of your life until the day is over.  The day started […]

Uganda – Bishop Warns of Growing Islamic Influence
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Uganda – Bishop Warns of Growing Islamic Influence

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Bishop Matthias Ssekamanya of Lugazi warned of a rapid growth in Islamic influence in Uganda during a visit to the headquarters of the international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). According to Bishop Ssekamanya, Arab states like Libya are investing increasingly in Uganda, and Muslims have gained key positions in a […]

Ongoing Killing of Christians in Iraq
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Ongoing Killing of Christians in Iraq

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The recent murder of a Christian in the north-Iraqi town of Kirkuk has again instilled terror in the small community. Ashur lssa Yaqub, a 29 year old working class citizen, was found dead by the police on Monday morning after being kidnapped Friday night. His body was badly mutilated and his ear severed after his […]

Egypt – "Serious, but not hopeless"
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Egypt – “Serious, but not hopeless”

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Following the violent attacks on Christian churches in Cairo last weekend, the Coptic Catholic Patriarch of Alexandria, Cardinal Antonios Naguib has spoken of a “very serious situation,” but one not without hope. Last Sunday, May 9, the president of the Sunni Al Azhar University in Cairo issued a joint declaration, together with representatives of all […]

What Would Jesus Cut?
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What Would Jesus Cut?

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That is the question asked by the left-leaning Christian organization, Sojourners, in its campaign of the same name. It is a most appropriate question given the battle over the budget and given this time of year, not long after the most holy holiday of the year for Christians. Sojourners claims that, despite record budget deficits […]

A Report from Tuscaloosa’s Ground Zero
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A Report from Tuscaloosa’s Ground Zero

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The Warrior River borders the University of Alabama campus, separating old Tuscaloosa from up-scale housing developments to the north. Tuscaloosans know a “north of the river” address connotes six-figure incomes. The schools, public and private, are excellent. It’s the country club set. The Warrior River forms a barrier separating Tuscaloosans by class and largely, although […]

Good Friday in Iraq
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Good Friday in Iraq

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A curfew failed to deter Christians in Mosul, who walked for up to an hour to attend a packed Good Friday service in one of Iraq’s most dangerous cities Archbishop Amil Nona of Mosul presided at the liturgy at St. Paul’s Chaldean Church which people reached on foot after a curfew on cars and other […]

Sudan Bishop Says Violence Will not Block Independence
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Sudan Bishop Says Violence Will not Block Independence

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Outbreaks of violence in key regions of South Sudan will not block the path to independence, according to a Catholic leader who has called on the government to address the “root causes” of the conflict. Auxiliary Bishop Daniel Adwok Kur of Khartoum highlighted the “large amounts of violent incidents” in South Sudan, which is preparing […]

Muslim Jihad in Christian Ethiopia
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Muslim Jihad in Christian Ethiopia

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Not only does last week’s jihadist rampage against Ethiopia’s Christians highlight the travails Christians encounter wherever Islam has a sizable population, but it offers several insights, including some which should concern faraway, secular nations with Muslim minorities. According to Fox News: Thousands of Christians have been forced to flee their homes in Western Ethiopia after […]

Rare Good News About Christians in the Midle East: Bearing Witness in Lebanon
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Rare Good News About Christians in the Midle East: Bearing Witness in Lebanon

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In a recent interview, Father Raymond Abdo, the Provincial of the Discalced Carmelite Fathers in Lebanon, said that the most important thing that can be done for Christians in the Middle East is to help them not to emigrate, because everyone from the East should “bear witness to the Faith in the East.” Speaking to […]