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A victim of Boko Haram in Nigeria's Borno State. Credit: Courtesy Photo

Held by Boko Haram for Nine Years, Victim Seeks Help at Catholic Trauma Healing Center

May 21, 2023

About a month ago, Susan Swa escaped Kangarwa, an Island on Lake Chad where Boko Haram militants had held her captive for nine years.

Daughters of St. Paul Superiors in Kenya, Malawi, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, flanked by the Delegate Superior, Sr. Rosemary Mwaiwa (in white scuff). Credit: Daughters of St. Paul, Nairobi

How Daughters of St. Paul in Eastern Africa are Bouncing Back from COVID-19 Plunge

May 21, 2023

Members of the Pious Society of the Daughters of St. Paul (FSP – Daughters of St. Paul) in Tanzania were journeying with five Aspirants when COVID-19 broke out in 2020, bringing vocations outreach activities of FSP members in the Eastern Africa region to a sudden halt.

Fr. Jude Kingsley Maduka, kidnapped from Nigeria’s Okigwe Diocese on 19 May 2023. Credit: Okigwe Diocese

Prayer Appeal for “safe, sound” Release of Nigerian Catholic Parish Priest Abducted Friday

May 21, 2023

Prayers are being sought for the “safe and sound” release of Fr. Jude Kingsley Maduka, the Nigerian Catholic Priest abducted on May 19 from Nigeria’s Okigwe Diocese.

Pope Francis at his general audience in St. Peter's Square on May 17, 2023. | Vatican Media

Pope Francis on G7 Summit: Nuclear Deterrence Offers "only an illusion of peace"

May 21, 2023

In a letter marking the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Pope Francis asserted that the mere possession of nuclear weapons creates “a climate of fear and suspicion” and offers “only an illusion of peace.”  

Sister Beta Almendra, a Portuguese Comboni nun living in Wau. Credit: ACN

Catholic Diocese in South Sudan Raising Funds to Support War Victims in Sudan

May 20, 2023

The Catholic Diocese of Wau in South Sudan is preparing to send a special collection to Khartoum, Sudan, to support people who continue to be affected by the ongoing war that broke out on April 15.

Hon. Thomas Tayebwa addressing journalists during the 57th World Communications Day (WCD) that was held at St. Mary’s Lubaga Cathedral of Kampala Archdiocese. Credit: Uganda Catholics Online

Catholic Communicators in Uganda Urged to Use Communication Tools to “build bridges”

May 20, 2023

The Deputy Speaker of the Ugandan Parliament has urged Catholic communicators to use social communication tools to “build bridges” and foster unity among the people of God in the East African nation.

“Evangelization a matter of communication”: Cardinal on Communications Week in Nigeria

May 20, 2023

Communication and evangelization are intimately connected, John Cardinal Onaiyekan has said in his Tuesday, May 16 Message on the occasion of this year’s ongoing Communications Week (COMWEEK), an initiative of Catholic Bishops in Nigeria.

Credit: Christians Solidarity Worldwide (CSW)

Christian Entity Condemns “intentional attacks” on Worship Centers in Sudan amid Fighting

May 20, 2023

Christians Solidarity Worldwide (CSW), a UK-based human rights foundation, has condemned “intentional attacks” on worship centers in Sudan since fighting between the  Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out on April 15.

Statue of Virgin Mary in Medjugorje, Bosnia Herzegovina. | Gnuckx via Flickr (CC BY 2.0).

Alleged Marian Apparitions the Subject of New Vatican Observatory

May 20, 2023

An institution has been formed in Rome to study alleged Marian apparitions and other supernatural phenomena in the Catholic Church.

Canonization Mass for St. Artemide Zatti and St. Giovanni Battista Scalabrini on Oct. 9, 2022. | Daniel Ibanez/CNA

Pope Francis Approves Beatification of Priest Martyred in World War II

May 20, 2023

Pope Francis on Saturday approved the beatification of a young Italian priest martyred by Nazis during World War II, and advanced the beatification causes of eight other men and women.

Archbishop Hubertus van Megen blesses the Holy Trinity Catholic Cathedral ground in Kenya's Homa Bay Diocese. Credit: Fr. Joshua Mege/Arise Communications Network

Groundbreaking for New Cathedral in Kenyan Diocese “a gracious milestone”: Local Ordinary

May 19, 2023

The groundbreaking for the construction of a new Cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Homa Bay in Kenya is “a gracious milestone”, the Local Ordinary of the 30-year-old Kenyan Diocese has said.

The headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) in DRC. Credit: Courtesy Photo

Transparency in Funding among Electoral Reforms Church Leaders in DRC Want Implemented

May 19, 2023

Transparency in the disbursement of funds is one of the electoral reforms that church leaders in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) want implemented ahead of general elections scheduled to take place in December this year.

Credit: Intersociety

How Nigerian Government is Overspending to Cover Up Christian Persecution

May 19, 2023

Many individuals and organizations who vehemently spoke against Christian persecution in Nigeria are now silent, a Catholic human rights defender has said, noting that most activists no longer criticize the government amid increasing violation of rights because “they have been bought”.

The Vatican has withdrawn a commemorative stamp for the 2023 World Youth Day. | Philatelic and Numismatic Office of the Vatican City State

Vatican Withdraws World Youth Day 2023 Stamp after Criticism in Portugal

May 19, 2023

A Vatican-produced postage stamp to commemorate the upcoming World Youth Day 2023 in Portugal has been withdrawn after criticism over its use of a mid-20th-century monument that is controversial in some Portuguese circles.

Fadumo Islow with her two-year-old son, Mohamed, in the Trócaire-run hospital in Luuq, Gedo Region, southern Somalia after eight days of treatment. Credit: Trócaire

Catholic Entity Using “integrated community” Approach to Reach Out to Needy in Somalia

May 19, 2023

Trócaire, the overseas development agency of the Catholic Bishops of Ireland, has adopted an approach dubbed “Integrated Community Case Management” in reaching out to victims of the protracted drought in Somalia. 

Some members of the Interreligious Council of Kenya. Credit: Courtesy Photo

Let’s Rally against Use of “any form of plastics”: Religious Leaders in Kenya

May 19, 2023

The Chairman of the Inter-Religious Council of Kenya (IRCK) is asking other faith leaders in the East African nation to rally together against the use of all kinds of plastic, including bags and bottles.

A view of Vatican City State - | vaticanstate.va

Judge Orders Psychiatric Treatment for Man Who Forcibly Entered Vatican

May 19, 2023

A Vatican magistrate has sentenced the unidentified man who forcibly entered Vatican City on Thursday night to mandatory psychiatric treatment, according to the Holy See press office.

Credit: Fr. Joshua Mege/Arise Communications Network

“Go to them”: Apostolic Nuncio in Kenya Urges New Deacons to Serve the Troubled, Abandoned

May 18, 2023

The representative of the Holy Father in Kenya has urged the new Deacons he ordained on Thursday, May 18 in Kenya’s Homa Bay Diocese to reach out to “the troubled” and “the abandoned” during their Diaconate Ministry.

Fr. Joseph Bature Fidelis the Director of the Human Resource and Skills Acquisition for Trauma Healing Center of the Catholic Diocese of Maiduguri. Credit: Fr. Joseph Bature Fidelis

Priest Providing Trauma Therapy in Nigeria Recounts Near-death Experiences with Militants

May 18, 2023

Outside St. Hillary Nursery and Primary School of Nigeria’s Catholic Diocese of Maiduguri, a middle-aged Priest gathered teachers and older learners and gave them general absolution. Everyone in the school thought they were going to die. 

Late Sr. Mary Scheller. Credit: Christ the King Monastery, Msongari, Nairobi.

Carmelites Eulogize “last” American Nun Whose Talent Warmed Kenyan President's Heart

May 18, 2023

Members of the Order of Discalced Carmelites (OCD) have eulogized their late U.S.-born Sister who entered Nairobi Carmel in Kenya as a Postulant in 1952, and recalled her talent as an accomplished musician, carpenter, and seamstress.