An update on the plight of persecuted Christians worldwide

To give us an idea of the work Aid to the Church (ACN) has been doing, retired former Director, Neville Kyrke-Smith, and Community Outreach Manager Aloma Do Rozario told us about the Catholic charity’s recent and inspiring work.

They both stressed the importance of prayer and how vital a role prayer plays in supporting all the work being done on the ground.

They shed light on the current challenges many Christians around the world are facing, including updates on the situation in Ukraine and in Nigeria. The charity estimates that around 365 million Christians are suffering from some form of persecution worldwide, equivalent to 1 in 7 Christians.

In Ukraine, where the war still rages on, ACN has managed to run well over 1,000 projects between 2022 and 2026 to ease the growing suffering and provide emergency relief while also offering support to seminarians and religious. One of the projects includes the “Holidays with God” initiative, which aims to provide a spiritual sanctuary where traumatized children and exhausted young families can find rest, comfort and hope, away from the trauma and hardships of wartime.

In Nigeria, while the persecution against Christians remains very severe and often under-reported, vocation to the priesthood remains strong, shining as the beacon of Africa’s surge in religious vocations.

On Wednesday 18th November, ACN will celebrate its 10th anniversary and has launched a series of events across the country, including an ambitious fundraising event to mark the occasion to raise £1 Million for Persecuted Christians and shine a light on the atrocities that are faced by suffering Christians.
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Recently, ACN organised the One Million Children Praying the Rosary, a global initiative that ran from 1st to 7th October, the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Its aim was to bring together children, families, schools, parishes and communities worldwide to pray for peace. POPE Leo XIV even joined 700 children at the Lourdes Grotto in the Vatican Gardens to pray the Rosary for peace and launch a worldwide week of prayer on 1st October. Read more here

Let us keep Neville, Aloma and everyone at ACN in our prayers as they continue their work to alleviate the suffering of persecuted Christians.