Middle East - Africa News

A symposium was held Oct. 11-12 , 2024, on the occasion of 200th anniversary of Blessed Anne-Catherine Emmerich’s death and the 20th anniversary of her beatification in Izmir, Turkey.

Symposium in Turkey held for the bicentenary of Blessed Anne-Catherine Emmerich’s death

Oct 15, 2024

By Nathalie Ritzmann

Dozens gathered from across the world to mark the 200th anniversary of Blessed Anne-Catherine Emmerich’s death and the 20th anniversary... Read more

Al-Rusul School in Jounieh, Lebanon.

Catholic schools in Lebanon stand resilient amid war

Oct 14, 2024

By Romy Haber

In Lebanon, Catholic schools stand as beacons of hope as the education system veers on collapse as war escalates. Read more

Eight people in this church and adjoining buildings in Derdghaya, Lebanon, were killed.

Israeli missile destroys Catholic church in Lebanon; at least 8 dead

Oct 11, 2024

By Andrés Henríquez

A church of the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Tyre, Lebanon, has been hit by a missile from Israeli airstrikes... Read more

St. Elie and St. Gregory the Illuminator Armenian Catholic Cathedral in Beirut.

Who are the Christians in Lebanon?

Oct 8, 2024

By Jonah McKeown

For a Middle Eastern nation, Lebanon has a large and influential Christian population. Read more

Christian worshippers pray at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in the Old City of Jerusalem on Easter Sunday, March 31, 2024.

Pope Francis: ‘Prayer and fasting are the weapons of love that change history’

Oct 7, 2024

By Kristina Millare, Elias Turk

In his letter to Catholics in the Middle East, the Holy Father expressed his closeness with those “who dwell in... Read more

Fire and smoke rise at an area targeted by an Israeli airstrike on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Oct. 6, 2024.

Beirut under fire: Church officials call for peace

Oct 7, 2024

By ACI MENA

After what some have called the most violent night of fighting in Lebanon, Maronite Patriarch Cardinal Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi reaffirmed... Read more

Members of St. Monica Widows Group pray during Mass at St. Aloysius Gonzaga Ojolla Parish in the Archdiocese of Kisumu in Kenya.

Widows group in Kenya rescues Catholic women from polygamy, ‘wife inheritance’

Oct 7, 2024

By Agnes Aineah

St. Monica Widows Group was started in 1984 in the areas served by the Archdiocese of Kisumu in Kenya to... Read more

Monica Biboso and her employer, Ester Rot, while celebrating Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) in the dining room of Kibbutz Be'eri in 2022. “I don’t feel like a hero because I saved Ester” during the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, Biboso told CNA. “I would do anything to save her. I just treated her like my mother. Every child would do the same.”

‘Without God, I wouldn’t be here’: Catholic woman recounts survival of Oct. 7 Hamas attack

Oct 7, 2024

By Marinella Bandini

In a conversation with CNA, Monica Biboso recalled that day she and the elderly woman she cared for survived when... Read more

Bishop Willy Ngumbi Ngengele of the Goma Diocese presides over the Oct. 1, 2024, funeral Mass for Edmond Bahati Mbarushimana, a Catholic journalist in the Democratic Republic of Congo who was murdered Sept. 27.

Catholic journalist murdered in Democratic Republic of Congo eulogized as ‘man of peace’

Oct 4, 2024

By Jude Atemanke

Edmond Bahati Mbarushimana, a journalist for Radio Maria Goma, was hailed as “a faithful servant, committed and conscientious in everything... Read more

A child clings to a Caritas Lebanon aid worker. An ongoing military escalation between Hezbollah and Israel has resulted in a massive displacement crisis. The situation is dire, affecting many regions in Lebanon.

Caritas Lebanon rushes aid as millions flee escalating Israel-Hezbollah conflict

Oct 1, 2024

By ACI MENA

Caritas Lebanon has joined with other organizations to aid millions of internally displaced persons as the war between Israel and... Read more

A cloud of smoke erupts during an Israeli air strike on the village of Sujud in southern Lebanon on Sept. 25, 2024. Israel announced dozens of new air strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon on Sept. 24, a day after 492 people, including 35 children, were killed in the deadliest bombardment since a devastating war in 2006.

As Lebanon faces increasing conflict, Christians stand firm against war

Sep 29, 2024

By ACI MENA

“No to war!” has become a rallying cry among Lebanon’s Christians, who have maintained this stance since clashes began to... Read more

An Israeli air strike hits the town of Khiam in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024.

Lebanon crisis threatens Eastern Catholic participation at Vatican Synod on Synodality

Sep 27, 2024

By Elias Turk

The Lebanon-Israel situation could diminish the presence of Eastern Catholic patriarchs from Lebanon at the Vatican’s Synod on Synodality, which... Read more

Father Marwan Ghanem recounts his survival of the Sept. 17, 2024, pager attack in Beirut in an interview with ACI Mena, CNA’s Arabic-language news partner.

Maronite priest recounts his experience witnessing Beirut’s pager explosions

Sep 26, 2024

By Elias Turk

Father Marwan Ghanem shared his story of witnessing some of the pager explosions that rocked the country on Sept. 17. Read more

St. George Maronite cathedral beside the Mohammad Al-Amin mosque in Beirut, the Lebanese capital.

Lebanon’s Christians also affected by Israel’s attacks

Sep 25, 2024

By Andrés Henríquez

The large-scale bombings Israel unleashed this week against Hezbollah in Lebanon are affecting all of Lebanon’s residents, including Christians. Read more

View of the coastal part of the city of Aden, Yemen.

Yemeni Christians pressured to conform to Islamic law: ‘We were forced to wear the hijab’ 

Sep 23, 2024

By ACI MENA

A Yemeni Catholic woman born in the 1980s and living in Aden spoke recently about the plight of Christians in... Read more

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Bishops tell young African digital influencers: ‘Brace for the challenges ahead’

Sep 22, 2024

By Agnes Aineah

Bishop Godfrey Onah reminded graduates of a digital media formation program that the digital world is still at the periphery... Read more

“If we are attacked because of our common baptism, maybe we should also live this common baptism,” said Father Nikodemus Schnabel, abbot of the Dormition Abbey in Jerusalem.

Christian community comes closer together amid attacks in the Holy Land

Although interreligious dialogue has suffered as a result of the intensification of conflict in the Holy Land, the situation has... Read more

Monsignor Éric de Moulins-Beaufort, president of the French Bishops Conference, presides over the Mass that took place on Sept. 14, 2024, at Maison Abraham (Abraham House) in Jerusalem during the celebrations for the 60th anniversary of its foundation as a pilgrim guest house run by Secours Catholique-Caritas France.

New pilgrimage brings Christians, Muslims, and Jews together in Holy Land at Abraham House

Sep 19, 2024

By Marinella Bandini

On Sept. 14 in Jerusalem, a new pilgrimage called “Pilgrims of Hope Way” was inaugurated at the 60th anniversary celebration... Read more

A large crowd gathered for the ceremony welcoming Patriarch Gregory Peter XV Agagianian's remains to Beirut's Martyrs' Square on Thursday, Sept 12, 2024.

Body of Armenian patriarch on path to possible sainthood returns to Lebanon

Sep 15, 2024

By Romy Haber, Souhail Lawand

The Armenian Catholic Patriarchate on Sept. 12 held a ceremony in Beirut’s Martyrs’ Square to welcome the remains of Patriarch... Read more

Father Vitalis Anaehobi, who serves in the southesast region of Nigeria, says that most of the young people he has spoken to are grieved by “difficulties in life” such as poverty, unemployment, and “the failure by the Church to protect them” as attacks against Christians continue in the country where religious-based persecution is one of the highest in the world. Many young people in the villages are now turning to paganism.

Priest urges Church in Nigeria to address needs of youth who are ‘returning to paganism’

Sep 14, 2024

By Agnes Aineah

Catholic leaders in southeast Nigeria are concerned about a trend they are witnessing among young rural Catholics — a return... Read more