Middle East - Africa News

Bishop Abdallah Elias Zaidan of the Eparchy of Our Lady of Lebanon of Los Angeles serves as chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace.

Bishop Zaidan calls for ‘lasting peace’ in Holy Land following resumed attacks in Gaza

Mar 26, 2025

By Tessa Gervasini

Maronite Bishop Abdallah Elias Zaidan said the resumed conflict “will have dire implications for any future civil society development in... Read more

Rody Sher, editor-in-chief of ACI MENA, speaks on the second anniversary of ACI MENA in 2024 at the Catholic University in Erbil, Iraq, where the agency is based. This year marks three years since ACI MENA began its mssion to report on the Church and the lives of Christians in the Middle East.

ACI MENA celebrates 3 years of amplifying voices of Christians in the Middle East

Mar 25, 2025

By Georgena Habbaba

A service of EWTN News, ACI MENA was established in 2022 and currently operates from the Catholic University in Erbil,... Read more

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Zambia’s church leaders denounce attacks on faith leaders’ criticism of government

Mar 25, 2025

By Silas Isenjia

Auxiliary Bishop Gabriel Msipu Phiri has reportedly been at the center of tensions with the country’s government for being vocal... Read more

A newly-renovated classroom in the Holy Land. Less than 10% of classrooms administered by the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem have received these kinds of upgrades, according to the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.

Education as a path to peace: Catholic order raises funds to restore Holy Land schools

Mar 24, 2025

By Jonah McKeown

The Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem is leading a campaign to renovate and modernize dozens of schools... Read more

Ho Chi Minh City People’s Court building.

Catholic activists call for diplomatic intervention for Kenyan on death row in Vietnam

Mar 23, 2025

By Silas Isenjia

CitizenGo Africa officials say the life of Margaret Nduta, a young Kenyan woman sentenced to die in Vietnam following a... Read more

Grace Center in northern Ethiopia provides extensive care and support to over 50,000 individuals yearly of all ages and abilities.

How one woman’s ‘vision from God’ led to helping thousands of lives in Ethiopia

Mar 23, 2025

By Tessa Gervasini

“At Grace Center we ask: What would Jesus do for this person? Then we do the same,” founder and executive... Read more

The Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa speaks with Father Gabriel Romanelli, pastor of Holy Family Church, during his December 2024 visit to Gaza.

Catholic priest in Gaza reports explosions near parish

Mar 18, 2025

By Victoria Cardiel

Father Gabriel Romanelli told Vatican News the bombings occurred just 300 or 400 meters (about 985 to 1,300 feet) from... Read more

Andrew Peter (left), a seminarian, and Father Philip Ekweli (right) were abducted March 3, 2025, from a parish rectory in Nigeria’s Docese of Auchi. Andrew Peter was murdred, though Ekweli was released and is receiving medical attention.

Abducted seminarian murdered in Nigeria; priest released after 10 days in captivity

Mar 18, 2025

By Jude Atemanke

A seminarian abducted on March 3 from a parish rectory in the Nigerian Diocese of Auchi was murdered by his... Read more

While Church leaders are yet to comment, ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, has confirmed media reports that tensions have increased between Ethiopia and Eritrea of late, resulting in rumors of war.

Situation in Ethiopia’s Tigray region ‘unstable’; Church leaders yet to comment

Mar 17, 2025

By ACI Africa

A source has told ACI Africa, CNA’s news partner in Africa, that “experts” in Ethiopia are warning of a war... Read more

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I of Constantinople during an audience at the Patriarchal headquarters in Istanbul with the German Association of the Holy Land, March 12, 2025.

Patriarch Bartholomew says 1054 church division ‘not insurmountable’ as Nicaea anniversary nears

Mar 15, 2025

By AC Wimmer

While Pope Francis previously announced plans to travel to Turkey, one possible obstacle to a universal agreement could be tensions... Read more

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun (right) welcomies Sovereign Order of Malta Grand Chancellor Riccardo Paternò di Montecupo and the delegation at Baabda's presidential palace on March 14, 2025.

Order of Malta reaffirms commitment to Lebanon’s stability and reconstruction

Mar 14, 2025

By ACI MENA

A delegation from the Sovereign Order of Malta is meeting government officials in Lebanon to discuss ways to support the... Read more

Archbishop Jean-Abdo Arbach.

‘No future for Syria without Christians’: Archbishop calls for justice for massacre victims

Mar 14, 2025

By Andrés Henríquez

The Greek-Catholic archbishop of Homs, Jean-Abdo Arbach, condemned the massacres of civilians that occurred in Syria last weekend, which left... Read more

Activists display a long list of atrocities against minorities on the first 300 days of the Narendra Modi government on March 19, 2015.

Christians decry plan in India for death penalty for conversions

Mar 14, 2025

By Anto Akkara

“A provision for capital punishment will be made in the Madhya Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act for religious conversion,” declared... Read more

Massacre in Plateau, Nigeria, on Dec. 24, 2023.

Nearly 150 Catholic priests kidnapped across Nigeria in past decade, at least 11 killed

Mar 13, 2025

By Agnes Aineah

A report published March 12 by Agenzia Fides shows that of the 145 Catholic priests kidnapped in Nigeria between 2015... Read more

Members of security forces loyal to the interim Syrian government hold up their firearms as they stand by the Mediterranean sea coast in Syria’s western city of Latakia on March 9, 2025. Syria’s interim president, Ahmed al-Sharaa, called for national unity and peace on March 9 amid growing international backlash following the killing of civilians along the country’s coast in the worst violence since the overthrow of former president Bashar al-Assad in the heartland of the Alawite minority, to which the latter belongs.

Syrian patriarchs condemn massacres as sectarian violence escalates on Syria’s coast

Mar 11, 2025

By Souhail Lawand

In a joint statement issued March 8, the patriarchs of Syria condemned acts that threaten civil peace and denounced the... Read more

Democratic Republic of Congo Republican Guard soldiers walk in the streets of Kinshasa on March 1, 2025. As the M23 fighters continue their offensive in eastern DR Congo, hundreds of soldiers from the Republican Guard walk the streets of Kinshasa in a show of force.

Caritas Internationalis warns violence in Democratic Republic of Congo may become regional

Mar 8, 2025

By Silas Isenjia

At the 58th regular session of the U.N. Human Rights Council, Caritas Internationalis highlighted the widespread effects of the conflict... Read more

Group photo in front of the Church of the Sacred Family in Gaza during the visit of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, on Dec. 22, 2024.

Christians in Gaza: ‘The ceasefire has made the situation even worse’

Mar 7, 2025

By Madalaine Elhabbal

Here are some of the major stories about the Church around the world that you may have missed over the... Read more

Father Sylvester Okechukwu of the Diocese of Kafanchan in Nigeria was found murdered on Ash Wednesday, March 5, 2025.

Nigerian diocese pays tribute to priest who was murdered on Ash Wednesday

Mar 6, 2025

By Agnes Aineah

According to the information provided by the Diocese of Kafanchan, Okechukwu was kidnapped from his residence at about 9:15 p.m.... Read more

An unknown security guard stands at the entrance of a church destroyed during the fighting with ISIS in Mosul, Iraq.

EWTN News documentary chronicles Iraq’s Christian history and ISIS impact

Mar 1, 2025

By Georgena Habbaba

Persecuted Christians in Iraq: An EWTN News Special” delves into the roots of Christianity in Iraq and its history dating... Read more

Members of the National Episcopal Conference of Congo (CENCO).

Catholic priests, religious brother attacked at Mozambique archdiocesan training center

Feb 27, 2025

By ACI Africa

An attack on the Nazaré Training Center in Mozambique’s Archdiocese of Beira on Sunday left two priests and a religious... Read more

Latest news

St. Paul’s Chaldean Catholic Cathedral in Mosul, Iraq.

Cardinal calls on Iraqi Christians to vote for fellow Christians in upcoming elections

The Kansas Capitol in Topeka.

Leader of ‘black mass’ arrested at Kansas Capitol after punching protester

CNA

New York official blocks Texas order against doctor who mailed abortion pills into state

“People need genuine compassion and choices, not the false choice of pain or poison,” says Jim Towey, founder and president of Aging with Dignity, the organization behind a new watchdog effort to monitor and oppose the expansion of assisted suicide throughout the United States.

Watchdog effort launches to oppose assisted suicide in U.S.

A wildfire blazes next to a stone lantern of family tomb in Andong, South Korea, on March 26, 2025. At least 18 people have been killed in one of South Korea’s worst wildfire outbreaks, with multiple blazes burning and causing “unprecedented damage,” the acting president said.

Pope Francis sends condolences after South Korea wildfires destroy thousands of homes

Maryland State House.

Maryland bishops say abuse payout bill ‘unfairly targets’ religious organizations

People stand past the debris of a collapsed building in Mandalay, Myanmar, on March 28, 2025, after a powerful earthquake killed more than 150 people across Myanmar and Thailand on March 28, toppling buildings and bridges and trapping over 80 workers in an under-construction skyscraper in Bangkok.

Pope Francis prays for Myanmar, Thailand after deadly earthquake

The Philippines has the highest adult Christian faith retention rate in the world, according to Pew Research.

Pew Research: Most Christians raised in the faith hold onto it in adulthood

Father Augustine Deji Dada, a Missionary of Mercy priest, is seen at the Vatican in Rome, Thursday, March 27, 2025.

‘This is life-changing’: Missionaries of Mercy gather in Rome for Jubilee of Hope

Cardinal George Pell.

Archbishop credits Cardinal Pell’s intercession for miraculous survival of Arizona toddler

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St. Joseph of Arimathea
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