Keeping the Faith Alive
EN | ES

The Voice of the suffering and persecuted​

In Pakistan, a Catholic widow demands justice for husband’s murder

category
“On June 8, 2019, he went to work but did not come home. I was very worried, as he was never late. His brother helped me look for him. We went street by street but could not find him. The next morning, someone told us that he’d seen the body ...

The future of Christians in Iraq, five years after ISIS invasion

category
"We Christians are a people of hope. But facing the end also brings us clarity, and with it the courage to finally speak the truth. Our hope to remain in our ancient homeland now rests on our own ability, and the ability of our oppressors and of the world at ...
Father Duraid Barber

On Iraq’s Nineveh Plains, a priest tells his flock to be courageous

category
FATHER DURAID Barber is a priest of the Syriac-Catholic Archdiocese of Mosul, Kirkuk and Kurdistan. Born and raised in Qaraqosh, a Christian town on the Nineveh Plains, he spent three years in exile in Kurdistan after ISIS swept through the region. He returned to Qaraqosh in June 2017, the first ...

Summer camps in Syria—‘She felt her heart had begun to beat again’

category
Summer camps in Syria—‘She felt her heart had begun to beat again’ THIS YEAR, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has been supporting more than 40 different summer programs for the benefit of Christian communities in countries where they are a minority, experience discrimination or where they are suffering ...

Catholic hospital closures in Eritrea: ‘It is like amputating one of the Church’s arms’

category
“THE PURPOSE of the brutal actions of the Eritrean government was to divest the Church of all services in the areas of education and health. Our work is to be restricted only to our places of worship,” an Eritrean priest told Aid to the Church in Need (ACN). Father Mussie ...

UN resolution puts spotlight on faith-based violence

category
THE UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY has passed a resolution establishing August 22 as the “International Day Commemorating the Victims of Acts of Violence Based on Religion or Belief.” Poland was the main sponsor of the resolution, which gained the support of 88 nations, including the United States, Canada, Brazil, Egypt, Iraq, ...

Family of kidnapped Christian in Egypt: ‘We fear torture and savage death’

category
" ... Militants clad in khaki stopped the vehicle. When they discovered that Uncle Adeeb was a Christian, they asked him to get out. Our biggest fear is that they may abuse, torture, and kill him, just as savagely as they have other Copts.”
Church in Sri Lanka St.-Sebastian-Church-in-Negombo

Christians in Sri Lanka are still in a state of shock

category
Many Christians are severely traumatized and reluctant to go inside a church: “Many told me that they are afraid to enter a church at the moment or feel fear when they hear the bells ring.”

West African bishops meet in Burkina Faso against backdrop of jihadist terror

category
"Both the West African bishops and the government in Burkina Faso have spoken out clearly: ‘we will not let them divide us. They will not be able to separate us into warring religious and ethnic groups.’ Because that is exactly what the terrorists want to see happen."

In Pakistan, discrimination turns violent for a Catholic teenager

category
"It is dangerous for me in Pakistan. I have never felt respected, and I have never been able to worship freely. My textbook says that Jesus Christ is not the son of God, and that Christians are idolaters: I have no hope for peace, or religious tolerance."
Scroll to Top

Religious FREEDOM

IN THE WORLD

REPORT 2023

Executive Summary
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.