The Voice of the suffering in Africa

The Nigerian city of Maiduguri was recently hit by terrible flooding. Aid to the Church in Need is helping the local diocese with food, sanitation, medicine, and shelter.   The Catholic Auxiliary Bishop of Maiduguri, in Nigeria, has issued an appeal for help in the wake of devastating floods affecting his city.  In a video message sent to Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Auxiliary Bishop John Bakeni requests aid, explaining that “the city of Maiduguri has been engulfed by a devastating flood, and over forty percent of the city is underwater.”   “We are reaching out to our ...

Maiduguri, Nigeria, known for having been the hub of Boko Haram, is now grappling with a devastating flood, which has engulfed significant parts of the city, including St. Patrick’s Cathedral Church. The catastrophic event is believed to be the result of damage to the Alau Dam, located a few miles from Maiduguri.  According to media reports, Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, faces its most severe flooding since 1994, leaving Borno residents on high alert, as countless houses are completely submerged. As the crisis continues, the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) urgently asks for prayers ...

In only a decade, Burkina Faso has become an epicenter of terrorist violence, with over 40 percent of the country’s land outside of government control. And in this situation, the Catholic Church provides material and spiritual support. Two Burkinabe priests from a diocese hard hit by extremists shared their experiences with ACN.   “The situation is dire,” said Father Bertin Namboho and Father Jean-Pierre Keita, the bursar of the Diocese of Nouna and parish priest of the village of Tansila, respectively. Both priests attended a recent press conference organized by the international Catholic charity  Aid to the Church in Need ...

Priests from Burkina Faso testify to the suffering in their communities after the massacre of hundreds.  Extremist groups controlling about 40 percent of Burkina Faso are now as dangerous as Boko Haram was in Nigeria, according to Father Bertin Namboho, bursar of the Nouna Diocese in western Burkina Faso.  Speaking with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Father Namboho said that people in the diocese “live in constant terror.”  Since May, terrorists have killed up to 240 people – about 100 of them Christian – and kidnapped many more in Burkina Faso.   Father Namboho said that ...

Islamic terrorists killed 26 people in a church, many of them Christian.  Local sources have told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) about a recent terrorist attack in Burkina Faso. The incident took place in the village of Sanaba, in the Diocese of Nouna, on August 25th, when a large group of insurgents surrounded the community and took all men over the age of 12 who were Christian, followers of traditional religions, or people they considered opponents of Jihadist ideology. The terrorists then led the men to a nearby Protestant church and slit their throats.   The attack took ...

Bishop António Juliasse of Pemba, in northern Mozambique, visited communities that were attacked by Islamic terrorists and thanked ACN for its support of the country’s Church. Mozambique has suffered under insurgents since 2017. “As pastor of the diocese, I feel great pain for not being able to visit all the Christians, due to a lack of security,” said the Bishop of Pemba. “But when local Christian leaders told me that it was possible to reach some regions, I departed immediately. And I was warmly welcomed in an atmosphere of joy and hope.”  In a message sent to Aid to ...