Press Release – Nigeria

© Aid to the Church in Need

“The West should send military to defeat Boko Haram”

By John Pontifex, ACN International

Adapted by Amanda Bridget Griffin, ACN Canada

© Aid to the Church in Need

Montreal/London – Monday January 19, 2014 – A Bishop whose diocese in north-east Nigeria has suffered most at the hands of Boko Haram wants the West to send in military forces to defeat the militants.

Describing how a strategically superior Boko Haram was now recruiting from countries across north-Africa, Bishop Oliver Dashe Doeme of Maiduguri said that Western military intervention was the only viable option in the fight against the militants, now allied to Islamic State.

In an interview with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the Catholic charity for persecuted and other suffering Christians, the bishop said Nigeria’s military was weakened by incompetence, corruption and Boko Haram infiltration within its ranks. He warned that drastic action was urgently needed as the attacks earlier this month in strategically significant Baga showed that Boko Haram was poised to become a threat well beyond Nigeria’s borders and was recruiting from Niger, Chad, Cameroon and Libya.

 

© Aid to the Church in Need

Killed for refusing to convert 

Bishop Dashe Doeme, whose diocese is the heartland of the Islamist terror group, said: “The West should bring in security – land forces to contain and beat back Boko Haram. A concerted military campaign is needed by the West to crush Boko Haram.” He said the situation had become so critical – with more devastating Boko Haram attacks last week south of Maiduguri – it demanded a repeat of the French campaign of early 2013 to force Islamists out of parts of Mali, also in west Africa. The bishop said the attack in Baga revealed the ineptitude of the Nigerian military, adding that incompetent senior officers should be sacked “as a lesson to the others. Among the soldiers,” he said, “there were sympathizers with Boko Haram – some of them were even Boko Haram members and many of them just ran away.”

The bishop also called for the arrest of clandestine foreign backers of the Islamist terror group, adding: “The [Nigerian] government knows who are sponsoring Boko Haram.” And describing how within five years, the Boko Haram threat has decimated his diocese with more than 50 churches and chapels destroyed and more than 200 churches abandoned. He said 1,000 of his faithful have been killed, many of them by Islamists.  “The [extremists], point a gun or a knife at them saying that if they do not convert they will be killed. Some of them have been killed for refusing to convert,” said Bishop Dashe Doeme. Describing how since 2009, nearly 70,000 of the 125,000 Catholics in Maiduguri had fled their homes, he appealed for help for faithful taking refuge in displacement camps.

 

© Aid to the Church in Need

Prayer to overcome the Boko Haram threat

“The threat we face presents a very bleak future for the Church. Many of our members are scattered and others have been killed. In some areas there are no Christians any more. But the Church belongs to Christ. The Church will remain strong and many of our people have returned after land has been taken back by the Nigerian soldiers.”

Bishop Doeme called for prayer to overcome the Boko Haram threat and asked for people to pray the Hail Mary. “The most important thing is to pray for our people; I know people are praying for us and I am very grateful. I want people to pray the Hail Mary – our mother Mary has been championing our cause. We have a lot of devotion to the Blessed Virgin.”

To make a donation by please call: (514) 932-0552 or toll free 1-(800) 585-6333
or click the image to make a secure on-line donation.

The bishop thanked ACN for providing $62,672 CAN in emergency aid for displaced people from his diocese.

The charity has also given $50,870 CAN in Mass Offerings for the priests of Maiduguri diocese, half of whom have taken refuge in the neighbouring diocese of Yola in eastern Nigeria.

 

PRESS RELEASE – Pakistan

Pakistan

“The Taliban will stop at nothing now”

 Archbishop Coutts warns of increased threat to innocent people – 

Prelate asks schools to hold one-minute silence for Peshawar victims

by John Pontifex, ACN United Kingdom

Adapted by Amanda Bridget Griffin, ACN Canada

UK/Montreal, Wednesday, 17^th December 2014 – INNOCENT people in Pakistan – young and old alike – are now at increased risk of terrorist attack, according to the leader of the country’s Catholics, who has called on the government to step up security in the wake of the Peshawar school massacre.

Archbishop Joseph Coutts of Karachi said yesterday’s terrorist incident at the Army Public School was a “revenge attack” against the Pakistan military and that the Taliban “will stop at nothing now” to harm people.

Speaking today (Wednesday, 17^th December) from Karachi, Archbishop Joseph Coutts, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Pakistan, told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need that the threat to schools, hospitals, churches, mosques and other public places had grown and that tighter security was crucial.

“The [security services] should be increasing security in public places.”

In his ACN interview, Archbishop Coutts said: “What happened yesterday was a sign of desperation.  The Taliban are prepared to carry out brutal attacks, killing school children, shooting them in the head. “They will stop at nothing now. The [security services] should be increasing security in public places. We are dealing here with people who have no conscience. It is just blind hatred.”

Stressing that the attack on Peshawar was the Taliban’s response to Pakistan military offences in the Khyber region and North Waziristan, regions close to the Afghan border, Archbishop Coutts said: “The Taliban want to show [the military] that they can hit the [army’s] children and all their families. Their message is: ‘We can get you in your own territory’.”

But the archbishop said that the Peshawar massacre was not a sign of the Taliban’s growing military might.  “I don’t think it was a show of strength. It is more likely to be a last ditch attempt to show what they can do,” he said.

In his statement, the archbishop calls on church communities to “celebrate Christmas in a sober manner as a mark of respect for all victim[s] of terror attacks.” The statement goes on: “On the birthday of Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, all Christians must pray fervently for peace. “It is the duty of every Christian to be a promoter of peace, reconciliation, harmony and unity … work[ing] together with fellow citizens [so] that Pakistan may be free from the scourge of violence and terrorism.”

In a statement issued today strongly condemning the attack, the prelate calls on Pakistan’s 300 or more Catholic schools and colleges to hold prayers and a one-minute silence to remember the 141 people who died.  Archbishop Coutts appealed to his faithful to pray not only for those killed yesterday but also for other Taliban victims including vaccinators against polio as well as the 127 people killed during the September 2013 attack on All Saints’ Church, Peshawar. He also urged people to pray for brick kiln workers Shama Bibi, 24, and Sajjad Maseeh, 27, the young Christian couple burned to death earlier this month for alleged blasphemy.

A call to “join hands to end this menace of terrorism”

In his ACN interview, Archbishop Coutts called on friends and benefactors to pray for Christians and others suffering violence in Pakistan. “It is very important for us to know that there are others praying for us, wanting to help us, wanting to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with us in faith. In spite of all our difficulties, we find a lot of strength in the prayers of all those who are concerned for us and I thank everybody who is remembering us, especially at this time of great tragedy and sadness.”

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s National Commission for Justice & Peace, an advocacy agency of the Catholic bishops’ conference which supports the victims of persecution, also condemned the Peshawar massacre.

In a message signed by Fr Emmanuel Mani, NCJP director, and Cecil Chaudhry, executive director, the agency stated: “We are running out of demands for human rights and now plead to the governments, all political parties, religious leaders, civil society organizations and the judiciary to set aside all their personal and political differences and join hands to end this menace of terrorism collectively. “The government, both federal and provincial, along with the intelligence agencies should take serious and effective measures to prevent such an atrocity and also demand to increase security and ensure [the] safety of all children and citizens of Pakistan.”

To make a donation by please call: (514) 932-0552 or toll free 1-(800) 585-6333
or click the image to make a secure on-line donation.

Pakistan is a priority country for Aid to the Church in Need, which in this country of 3 million faithful helps Christians escaping persecution, and provides Child’s Bibles, religious buildings and supports Sisters, seminarians and catechists as well as media projects.

A Seminarian’s Story – Meet Martin Baani

All projects underway adding up to a total amount of 5.77 million CAN – one of the largest efforts in ACN’s history – shows the scale of the drama experienced by our Iraqi brothers and sisters.  If our partners recognize us for our support, we still know that they are far from the end of this unspeakable catastrophe. The threat remains and the fragility of their hearts no less persistent.

This is why we still your help to continue supporting our brothers and sisters of the Middle-East trapped and forced to seek refuge elsewhere in their country… if not in another.

Marie-Claude Lalonde, National Director

---

Iraq

Martin Baani – a seminarian’s story

John Pontifex, ACN United Kingdom

Adapted by Amanda Bridget Griffin, ACN Canada

 

As IS approached, he took the Blessed Sacrament from the church and fled

Bombs fall and the sound of the explosion sends shock and fear into the hearts of the people.

Amid the sound of crying and frenzied activity, people pack up what belongings they can carry and make off into the night.

In the midst of it all stands Martin Baani, a 24-year-old seminarian.

The realisation is dawning on him that this is Karamlesh’s last stand.

For 1,800 years, Christianity has had a home in the hearts and minds of the people of this village, full of antiquity. Now that era is about to be brought to a calamitous end; Islamic State are advancing.

Martin’s mobile phone rings: a friend stammers out the news that the nearby town of Telkaif has fallen to “Da’ash” – the Arabic name for Islamic State.  Karamlesh would surely be next.

Martin dashes out of his aunt’s house, where he is staying, and heads for the nearby St Addai’s Church. He takes the Blessed Sacrament, a bundle of official of papers and walks out of the church. Outside a car awaits – his parish priest, Fr Thabet, and three other priests are inside.

Martin gets in and the car speeds off. They leave Karamlesh and the last remnants of the village’s Christian presence go with them.

Speaking to Martin in the calm of St Peter’s Seminary, Ankawa, it is difficult to imagine he is describing anything except a bad dream.

But there is nothing dreamy in Martin’s expression. “Until the very last minute, the Pashmerga [the Kurdish armed forces protecting the villages] were telling us it was safe.

“But then we heard that they were setting up big guns on St Barbara’s Hill [on the edge of the village] and we knew then the situation was very dangerous.”

Taking stock of that terrible night of 6^th/7^th August, Martin’s confidence is bolstered by the presence of 27 other seminarians at St Peter’s, many with their own stories of escape from the clutches of the Islamic militants.

Martin and his fellow students for the priesthood know that the future is bleak as regards Christianity in Iraq.

A community of 1.5 million Christians before 2003 has dwindled to less than 300,000. And of those who remain, more than a third are displaced. Many, if not most, want a new life in a new country.

Martin, however, is not one of them. “I could easily go,” he explains calmly. “My family now life in California. I already have been given a visa to go to America and visit them.”

“But I want to stay. I don’t want to run away from the problem.”

Martin has already made the choice that marks out the priests who have decided to stay in Iraq; his vocation is to serve the people, come what may.

“We must stand up for our rights; we must not be afraid.” He explains. Describing in detail the emergency relief work that has occupied so much of his time, it is plain to see that he feels his place is to be with the people.

Martin is already a sub-deacon. Now in his final year of theology, ordination to the priesthood is – God willing – but a few months away.

“Thank you for your prayers,” says Martin, as I take my leave of him. “We count on your support.”

Aid to the Church in Need is committed to supporting Martin and all the seminarians at St Peter’s Seminary, Ankawa as they make their journey to the Altar of God and prepare to serve God and their suffering people as priests.

---

 

Aid to the Church in Need announces 12 urgent aid packages for Iraq to help the thousands of displaced Iraqi Christians. They are to receive food, shelter, schooling and gifts for children in a concerted emergency relief program rushed through by a Catholic charity before the onset of winter. The 4 million Euros scheme announced by Aid to the Church in Need – one of the largest in the charity’s 67-year history – also includes pastoral support for priests and Sisters displaced by the crisis that has swept the country.

Iraq

All projects underway adding up to a total amount of 5.77 million CAN – one of the largest efforts in ACN’s history – shows the scale of the drama experienced by our Iraqi brothers and sisters.  If our partners recognize us for our support, we still know that they are far from the end of this unspeakable catastrophe. The threat remains and the fragility of their hearts no less persistent.

 

This is why we still your help to continue supporting our brothers and sisters of the Middle-East trapped and forced to seek refuge elsewhere in their country… if not in another.

Marie-Claude Lalonde, National Director

 

---

 

© Aid to the Church in Need

ACN helps kids go back to school 

John Pontifex, ACN United Kingdom

Adapted by Amanda Bridget-Griffin

RANIA and Ranin are inseparable. The twins, who have just turned 10, both enjoy school or at least they did until they were forced to flee their homes as Islamic State forces advanced. We met Rania and Ranin and their mother Thirka, in Ankawa, outside the Kurdish capital, Erbil, where they are sharing a tent with other families in the compound of St Joseph’s Chaldean Church. It was early October when we saw them and Thirka was anxious about the start of the school year, which the twins and their brother, Habib, a year older, had already missed.

It is for children such as Ranin, Rania and Habib that Aid to the Church in Need has committed 2.9 million for schooling projects. Under the scheme, eight schools will be built: four in Ankawa and another four in the Dohuk province in the far north of Kurdish northern Iraq.

On our very first day in northern Iraq, Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil proudly took us to see the new porta-cabin Mar Yamana School (St. Mary’s School) being developed in Ankawa. The school will provide for 900 children, classes divided into morning and afternoon rotations of 450 each, and next door a clinic is being created, run by the Ankawa-based Holy Cross Sisters so any medical needs they have can quickly be dealt with. With 120,000 Christians now descended on Kurdistan, there are teachers and others in the education profession among their number willing and able to join the staff, their salaries met by the government.

Greeted with news of the schools, Rania and Ranin’s mother is immediately enthusiastic. “Thank you for offering your kind support,” she says. Thirka, who dresses in black, continues to grieve her husband, a policeman in Qaraqosh, killed five years ago attending the scene of a bomb blast. “I was just beginning to cope with life without my husband,” says Thirka, “but being forced to leave our homes has made life impossible. “To have no school for the children to go to is a disaster. If they are to have any hope for the future, school is an absolute necessity.”

---

Aid to the Church in Need announces 12 urgent aid packages for Iraq to help the thousands of displaced Iraqi Christians. They are to receive food, shelter, schooling and gifts for children in a concerted emergency relief program rushed through by aCatholic charity before the onset of winter. The 4 million Euros scheme announced by Aid to the Church in Need – one of the largest in the charity’s 67-year history – also includes pastoral support for priests and Sisters displaced by the crisis that has swept the country.

ACN helps kids go back to school

Press Release – Aid to the Church in Need announces 12 urgent aid packages for Iraq

Iraq – A Mission of Mercy

By John Pontifex, for ACN International

Adapted by Amanda Bridget Griffin, ACN Canada

Thousands of displaced Iraqi Christians are to receive food, shelter, schooling and gifts for children in a concerted emergency relief program pushed through by a Catholic charity before the onset of winter. The $5.77 million plan announced by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) – one of the largest in the charity’s 67-year history – also includes pastoral support for priests and Sisters displaced by the crisis that has swept the country.

The projects, a number of them agreed, come amid fresh reports from Iraq that the crisis facing up to 120,000 displaced Christians is on the verge of worsening drastically. Huge pressure to move thousands of families out of tents before winter’s arrival looms as the weather is expected to deteriorate sharply over the coming weeks. Other families have just days to leave public buildings such as schools, which have been converted into displacement centres where people have been sleeping up to 20 in a single room.

Christian communities are entirely dependent on outside help, and have been supported by the Church since they arrived in Kurdish northern Iraq. Many of them have found refuge in Ankawa, close to the regional capital of Erbil, and further north in the region of Dohuk, close to the Turkish border.

It is now nearly four months since they left their homes with little more than the clothes they were wearing when Islamic State fighters advanced on Mosul city and the towns and villages in neighbouring Nineveh plains.

©Aid to the Church in Need

Aid: The breakdown

Along with growing concerns for the future of these refugees as winter approaches, ACN’s emergency projects’ package includes:

• Eight schools – four in Ankawa, Erbil, and the rest in Dohuk – pre-fabricated PVC structures providing for 15,000 children ($2.9 million)

 

• Food for displaced people totally reliant on outside help $908,808)

 

• Rented accommodation in Ankawa and Dohuk for displaced people $577,000)

 

• 150 PVC porta-cabins in Ankawa for use as accommodation $678,000)

 

• Christmas gifts for 15,000 children including warm clothes (coats and socks), pencils, colouring books and devotional items and ACN Child’s Bibles ($425,570)

 

• Mass Offerings for over 100 priests – both Chaldean and Syrian Catholic –from Iraq, most of them displaced by violence and other unrest $127,200)

 

• Help for 28 seminarians at St Peter’s Seminary, Ankawa $56,260)

Additional grants include: $27,410 emergency aid for Sacred Heart Sisters displaced from Mosul; $112,520 support for Babel College of Philosophy and Theology in Ankawa and; $54,820 help for Christian education (catechism) in 20 parishes across Baghdad.

All together, this aid builds significantly on the $290,000 ACN contributed in emergency aid to Christians fleeing Mosul and the Nineveh Plains in the immediate aftermath of the IS attacks.

©Aid to the Church in Need

Information: The assessment

The projects were drawn up during an ACN fact-finding and project assessment trip organized at short notice and completed one week ago. The charity’s head of Middle East projects Father Andrzej Halemba said: “This ancient community, which dates back to Biblical times, is on the verge of disappearing forever. They have suffered so much and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to help them and give them what they need to get through the winter.”

Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil said: “I would like to thank Aid to the Church in Need for acting so quickly to help the people especially as we get close to winter.” Chaldean Archbishop Amel Nona of Mosul, who was among the 500,000 who fled the city in June when it was seized by Islamic State (IS), is chair of the Emergency Committee of Bishops formed to coordinate relief efforts. He said: “I am personally so grateful to ACN – you are giving us new hope.”

©Aid to the Church in Need

Prayers: For the persecuted and the persecutors

The archbishop called on ACN and all people of goodwill to pray for Iraq. “Please pray for the safety of our people, that none are killed by terrorists; we should also pray for those who have persecuted us and we should also pray for an end to evil which is now so great in the world.” Aid to the Church in Need – which has offices around the world – is launching an international campaign to raise awareness and raise money for suffering Christians in Iraq.

---

To make a donation by please call: (514) 932-0552 or toll free 1-(800) 585-6333
or click the image to make a secure on-line donation.

Press Release: Iraq – Create a new ‘village’ for people fleeing ISIS

© Aid to the Church in Need

By John Pontifex, ACN United Kingdom

Adapted by Amanda Bridget Griffin, ACN Canada

 

Montreal, Monday June 30, 2014 – A LEADING archbishop has called for the creation of a huge displacement centre, the size of a village, in Kurdish northern Iraq for tens of thousands of people – many of them Christians – fleeing ISIS.

 

Reports today (Monday, 30^th June) that the jihadists have announced the creation of a caliphate, or Islamic state, in the territory it controls in Iraq and Syria, appointing Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as caliph and “leader for Muslims everywhere.”

 

Speaking today in an interview with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar Warda said thousands of “mobile homes” erected in his diocese were vital as the region anticipates a mass influx of people desperate to escape the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). “We are expecting an influx of people. It is not going to be a case of people wanting to stay one day – it will last one year or up to 18 months. They cannot live in tents – especially given so many of them will be elderly and women with children.”

 

Soon after ISIS captured Mosul on June 10, ACN responded by providing EUR 100,000 (nearly $147,000 CAN) – emergency assistance for food and shelter for many of the Christian families fleeing the city. The aid project was overseen by Catholic Chaldean Archbishop Amel Nona of Mosul, who fled the city for the nearby Tal Kayf and began mounting a relief operation amid reports that 500,000 people were on the move.

 

The advance of ISIS has prompted a mass exodus from towns and villages and the BBC reported that 40,000 people fled towns and villages in the Nineveh plains outside Mosul amid reports of heavy fighting. Archbishop Warda said that since then many, if not most, of the people had returned but added that an influx of people into Kurdish northern Iraq was highly likely because of the ongoing conflict and insecurity.

 

“Creating a village with mobile homes is necessary to help them,” said the archbishop. “We need to find a site where they can go and where they have the facilities available to help them.”

 

With no end in sight to the conflict which has uprooted so many communities, Archbishop Warda stressed the need for government unity in the face of the threat from ISIS.  He said: “The international community must put pressure on the Iraqi government to pull themselves together, to put their past disputes behind them and negotiate. This is what is necessary to deal with the crisis. Everything is unclear. It is chaotic.”

 

Soon after the capture of Mosul by ISIS, Archbishop Warda said that for the first time in 1,600 years no Sunday Mass had taken place in the city.

 

 

PRESS RELEASE : Syria – ‘Hear the cries of the children’

Patriarch’s appeal after bomb blast in playground kills one child and injures 60 others

ACN/AED

John Pontifex, ACN United Kingdom

Adapted by Robert Lalonde, ACN Canada

Montreal, April 17^th, 2014 – THE LEADER of Catholics in Syria has issued a desperate plea for international help, describing how one child was killed and 60 others were injured when a bomb landed on a school playground during a spate of attacks in Damascus. Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III reported that several children received ‘life-changing’ injuries in the blast that took place while they were singing the Syrian National Anthem during early morning assembly at the Armenian Catholic School in Damascus’ Old City.

Describing how the children suffered injuries to the face, chest, eyes and stomach, the Patriarch said that a further 10 children were injured at about the same time during other blasts in Damascus, one in front of St Abraham’s Melkite Church and another in the suburb of Duel’a. He said that in another suburb – Jaramana – up to 40 shells had fallen within 48 hours.

In a report, sent to Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, Patriarch Gregorios said after the attacks on Tuesday (15^th April): “May the world heed the cries, tears and the prayers of the children of Syria.” The Patriarch, who is President of the Assembly of Catholic Hierarchs (bishops) in Syria, added: “What is the point of all this carnage tantamount to a war of extermination? These attacks on our schools, children, churches and homes are criminal attacks with the aim of intimidating Christians who find themselves increasingly targeted.”

In the name of our children

©AED/ACN

Appealing to the “world’s conscience in the name of our children”, the Patriarch called for help from the United Nations and the European Union. The Patriarch, who is based in Damascus, said: “Where are the United Nations and the European Union? Do you want to kill this nation?”

He went on to call on Pope Francis to intervene. He said: “Syria, appeals to you, Most Holy Father Francis. Help out of this crisis. “We need your prayer, your strong speech, your bold interventions. Send your messengers West and East into the world’s capital cities, to bring your message of peace for Syria.”

In his report to ACN, the Patriarch described how the disaster had followed the “general rejoicing” over news the day before (Monday, 14^th April) that the largely Christian town of Ma’alula, had been “liberated” by the Syrian army. He wrote: “The inhabitants of Ma’alula are exultant. Lift up your heads, your deliverance is nigh.”

Late last year, Aid to the Church in Need provided emergency support for children who fled Ma’alula and went to Damascus, receiving help in a programme organised by Patriarch Gregorios. The charity has provided emergency help for Christians and others both displaced in Syria and those living as refugees in neighbouring Lebanon and Jordan.  Among those ACN supported were people trapped in the Old City of Homs cared for by Jesuit priest Fr Frans van der Lugt, murdered 10 days ago (Monday, 7^th April).

 

– 30 –

Nigeria – Mass of courage

Testimony of faith in city under attack

 By John Pontifex, ACN UK

Adapted by AB Griffin, ACN Canada

More than 2,000 people in northern Nigeria risked their lives by turning out for Sunday Mass March 16^, while their city was being bombed. Describing St Patrick’s Cathedral, Maiduguri, as “packed”, Father John Bakeni, the Mass celebrant, said people told him afterwards that if the attacks worsened they would prefer to die in church than anywhere else.

Sunday’s Mass took place after suspected Boko Haram extremists launched one of their biggest armed campaigns of recent months, firing rocket-propelled grenades and mounting a massive assault on a military barracks.

Hundreds died in the attacks, which were repulsed by the Nigerian military, but there were growing concerns about the government’s capacity to hold back the extremists.

In an interview Monday, March 17 with Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Father John Bakeni said: “Yesterday morning there were a lot of bomb explosions but that did not seem to deter people from coming to church. It was a very humbling and edifying experience to see so many people at Mass. The place was packed. When it came to the homily, I said to them that there was no need to preach. I told them: ‘Your presence in such large numbers is a homily in itself.’ ”

The priest ACN to call on the world to pray for the people of Nigeria: “Please pray that this violence will stop.”  In an earlier message, he described the start of the attacks early on Friday, March 14and stating: “We were greeted with the deafening sounds of bomb explosions, rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire. There was confusion and pandemonium everywhere.”

Hundreds of insurgents, dressed in military fatigues, struck at Maiduguri’s Giwa Military Barracks and succeeded in releasing fellow fighters held in the cells there. Further attacks took place against residential areas and a university campus, an assault typical of Boko Haram, which literally means “Western education is forbidden.”

“We are all living in fear, looking up to God and counting on your prayers”

Boko Haram has declared its enemies as the Nigerian government, education institutes and the Church as well as moderate Muslims.  In military clashes that went on for more than four hours, more than 200 insurgents were reported dead following a massive drive by the Nigerian military to flush them out.

But both Sunday and Monday, Father Bakeni and others reported that the enemy forces had “regrouped” and were mounting further attacks amid increasing concerns that Maiduguri was on the point of falling to the extremists.

There have been reports of “connivance” between the extremists and certain elements within the Nigerian military, which, it is claimed, explain the latter’s failure to foil the enemy.

“We are all living in fear now, looking up to God and counting on your prayers,” said Father Bakeni, “the [Nigerian] military are doing their very best but they lack modern weaponry to counter these guys who are far more sophisticated. Thank you and all those at Aid to the Church in Need for your prayers and support at this trying moment.

We really feel the strength of people’s support both within the country and outside.”

The attacks on Maiduguri coincided with violence reportedly carried out by Fulani Muslim herdsmen against Christian villages not far from Kaduna, in northern Nigeria’s Middle Belt.  At least 100 people are reported dead in the attacks on the evening of March 14.

 

Press Release – Ukraine

Your ‘solidarity is very dear to us’

Archbishop’s message of hope and faith at time of huge change

by John Pontifex, ACN United Kingdom

Adapted by ACN Canada

Montreal, February 25, 2014. An urgent appeal for prayer has come from one of Ukraine’s most senior Catholic bishops as momentous political change sweeps the country.

Archbishop Mieczysław Mokrzycki, President of Ukraine’s Latin-rite Catholic Bishops’ Conference, highlighted the “great solidarity” of people worldwide – shown in prayer and practical aid.

The archbishop’s comments, given in an interview with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), came as Ukraine underwent dramatic change, climaxing with President Viktor Yanukovych fleeing the country and MPs issuing a warrant for his arrest.

The Archbishop of Lviv said: “We are experiencing a great solidarity with the faithful, not only from the neighbouring countries, but also from the whole world.

“So many are supporting us with their prayers. They are remembering us and offering humanitarian aid.

“These gestures of solidarity are very important and dear to us.”

Archbishop Mokrzycki’s appeal for prayer came as Ukraine’s health ministry claimed that 88 people – most of them protestors – had died in last week’s clashes. Others gave a total of more than 100 dead.

Church sources told ACN that 2,000 people had been wounded, with Kiev’s St Alexander Cathedral being used as an operating theatre.

The archbishop said the turmoil of the past weeks had changed Ukrainians’ political and social outlook. “People have developed a deeper sense of responsibility for the country as citizens and a deeper conscience of civic duty,” he said.

The archbishop also said the turmoil had bound the people together. “On Maidan Square, there was an atmosphere of solidarity, regardless of denomination, rite, and ethnicity. All were one. All were united.”

Many months needed to heal the wounds

Archbishop Mokrzycki gave his comments on Friday ( February 21 ) just hours before President Yanukovych suddenly left the country after MPs voted to remove him. By then, Parliament had voted to reinstate the 2004 constitution which in effect meant returning to MPs powers taken by the President since the 2010 elections.

Parliament, on Sunday( February 23) named Speaker Oleksandr Turchynov as interim president, with the whereabouts of his predecessor still unclear, according to latest reports. And, MPs agreed for Presidential elections to take place on  May 24.

Speaking before President Yanukovych left office, Archbishop Mokrzycki’s secretary, Father Andrzej Legowych, told ACN: “Ukraine will need many months and even years to settle down and start a new life. The country is still divided and we will need many months – and longer – to heal the wounds.”

Ukraine has for many years been a priority country for Aid to the Church in Need, which has given the Church there key support. The charity’s ongoing aid has helped enable the recovery of the Church – notably the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church – which for 70 years was heavily persecuted under the Soviet communist regime.

Support for nearly 1,000 seminarians and help for catechists remain essential to the charity’s work in Ukraine.

To make a donation by please call: (514) 932-0552 or toll free 1-(800) 585-6333
or click the image to make a secure on-line donation.

Sudan – An imminent threat of famine

“People are on the edge of starvation and, if nothing happens, people will fall into that situation” – Msgr Roko Taban Mousa

by John Pontifex, ACN UK

Adapted by AB Griffin, ACN Canada

Entire communities in South Sudan are at risk of starvation, according to a Church leader, who says fighting continues despite a ceasefire.

Monsignor Roko Taban Mousa said vast numbers of people are “in urgent need” across his diocese of Malakal which extends through the Upper Nile, Unity and Jonglei states, and where there are scenes of some of the worst fighting between government forces and rebel groups.

Speaking on February 13. from South Sudan in an interview with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need, Msgr Taban warned of mass famine if aid – particularly food – is not sent very quickly.

Describing the difficulties of getting aid to the worst-affected areas, he said that, in spite of the ceasefire on January 24, the fighting had continued – though the conflict had diminished in its intensity.Stressing the need for rice, maize, beans, sugar, oil and salt as well as clean water, he said: “The question of food is very urgent. People are on the edge of starvation and, if nothing happens, people will fall into that situation.“Upper Nile, Bor and Unity are really destroyed. This conflict has been devastating and very inhuman.”

© ACN

30,000 homes lie in ruins across the diocese

Msgr Taban, who is Apostolic Administrator of Malakal, in effect acting bishop, said that in some of the worst affected areas of his diocese, up to 100,000 people are in dire need of food. According to Msgr Taban, at least 30,000 homes lie in ruins across the diocese, half of them in three main towns – Bor, the center of particularly severe conflict, Malakal and Bentiu. He also highlighted mass looting and attacks on core services such as pharmacies and other medical centers.

The monsignor said people had no access to healthcare at a time when malaria and diarrhea were on the rise. He reported that people without clean water were drinking from the White Nile that runs through the diocese.

The UN has reported that since the violence began on December 15,  2013  in South Sudan, more than 860,000 have fled their homes.thousands have died in the conflict between the government forces and rebels led by former deputy president Riek Machar.

Stressing  the impact of the devastation as being was far worse than during the catastrophic 21-year civil war that ravaged Sudan until 2005, Mgr Roko said: “What we experienced during the [civil] war was never as bad as what we have experienced these past weeks.”

Describing the current violence, he said: “The fighting is continuing but not at the same level as when it started.

“From Christmas Eve until 20^th January, there was very heavy fighting. Now it is subsiding because of the [Addis Ababa] negotiations.”

Msgr Roko described how his own home in Malakal was damaged by gunfire – luckily he was not in danger – but he came home to find damage to the doors, windows and lighting. “People need to pray for us. We feel that sense of solidarity when people pray.The need for prayer is very important. For those who have suffered so much, knowing that there are people who are praying for them will encourage them and give them back their hope.”

Aid to the Church in Need is working with Msgr Roko to assess options for emergency aid.

ACN’s Sudan and South Sudan projects coordinator Christine du Coudray Wiehe said: “The charity is willing to offer emergency help, but we would first like to raise the question of logistical capacity; whether there are trained personnel capable of implementing the project efficiently.”

She also raised concerns about aid convoys being looted by underpaid and hungry soldiers, citing instances of this kind involving the UN.