The bishops of Sri Lanka have asked the faithful to avoid lavish celebrations this Christmas, as the country faces an uphill struggle after mismanagement led to economic disaster.

More than 30 organizations, including the Justice and Peace Commission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan, supported by ACN, have urged the government to assess data on incidents of forced conversion and present it to Parliament.

Faced with the dramatic situation in Lebanon and Syria, the international foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has launched a Christmas campaign for emergency assistance to support Christian communities in these two countries.

The Christians of the Holy Land are preparing to celebrate Christmas, more than 2000 years after the birth of Christ.

Christians fear imminent Turkish ground incursion.

One of the many projects ACN funds in Lebanon.

Meditation by Sr Noha from the Borj-Hammoud Nabaa clinic in Lebanon.

Father Youssef Nasr (President of the Secretariat for Catholic schools in Lebanon) recently spoke with ACN about the challenges facing the schools as the country’s severe economic crisis persists.

The Apostolic Nuncio to Australia, Archbishop Charles Balvo, has sent a message of support for the Red Wednesday initiative, organised by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) to call attention to victims of religious persecution.

For many Lebanese Christian students, the University Pastoral service is a lifeline that keeps them in the country, when everything around them seems to give them reasons to give up.

Australia’s capital has joined a select list of cities that have hosted Night of the Witnesses, an Aid to the Church in Need initiative that honours Christianity’s modern-day martyrs and those persecuted because of their faith.

Growing insecurity risks dividing the country, say the Church leaders, pointing to multiple regions where violence has flared and also taking aim at multinational corporations that pillage natural resources.

The terrorist organisation took her father’s life and tried to crush her soul, but with the help of ACN through a Trauma Center in Maiduguri she is back on her feet and even found the strength to forgive those who caused her so much pain.

Before the war, Syria had a vibrant and stable Christian community, but 12 years of conflict and economic crisis forced many to flee.

The announcement that the Holy Father is considering a visit to South Sudan, to take place in February next year, was received “with much joy” by the local Catholic community, says sister Beta Almendra, a missionary in Wau.

Several weeks after the second military coup took place in Ouagadougou on 30 September, the people continue to be sceptical about the country’s future, particularly with respect to Christians, a group that is greatly at risk.

During a recent visit to the headquarters of ACN, in Germany, Melkite Archbishop Georges Masri, of Aleppo, described the serious crisis that is affecting both the population’s health and the Church’s pastoral work.

The superior general of the Congregation of the Albertine Brothers, Brother Franciszek Grzelka of Poland, recently visited his fellow brothers and brought them a delivery of relief supplies.