Middle East - Africa News

Refugees in the Diocese of Maiduguri, Nigeria, September 2014.

In run-up to presidential vote, Nigerian bishop slams government corruption

Feb 13, 2015

Bitterly condemning “the ugly tide of corruption” in Nigeria’s government, the Bishop of Sokoto has highlighted the challenges awaiting the... Read more

A crucifix inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem, one of the sites of the Hearts Aflame pilgrimage for priests and religious.

Franciscan Holy Land pilgrimage aims to revitalize priests' ministry

Feb 11, 2015

An upcoming twenty-day Holy Land pilgrimage for priests and religious aims at being a renewal program to help them become... Read more

After pilot's heinous execution, Jordan's Christians pray for religious harmony

Feb 4, 2015

By Kevin J. Jones

Christians in Jordan have responded to the Islamic State's gruesome execution of a captured Jordanian pilot with sorrow, calling for... Read more

A Cardinal's biretta rests on an empty chair.

Cape Verde, Africa is getting its first cardinal

Feb 3, 2015

At the beginning of the year, Pope Francis announced that among the 20 men he would make cardinal on Feb.... Read more

The American University of Madaba, located in Jordan.

Vatican commission to oversee Catholic university in Jordan

Feb 2, 2015

The Vatican Secretariat of State has established an ad hoc commission to oversee the American University of Madaba, a Catholic... Read more

An Iraqi Christian refugee at a church shelter in Jordan, Oct. 28, 2014.

Can Christians survive the 'dirty games' of Middle East politics?

Jan 30, 2015

By Kevin J. Jones

Christians have lived in the Middle East since the time of the apostles, but political machinations by world powers and... Read more

Eucharistic adoration in Niger.

Missionary: Boko Haram behind attacks on churches, religious in Niger

Jan 30, 2015

Boko Haram is determined to take its jihadist campaign beyond Nigeria. Its next targets include Niger, where, as reported in... Read more

Ghana priests shift focus to marriage prep, youth formation

Jan 30, 2015

A national gathering of hundreds of priests in Ghana have resolved to become more involved with their parishioners through marriage... Read more

A Syriac manuscript from the Monastery of St. Catherine, Mt. Sinai.

Iraqi priests work to save historic Christian writings from Islamic State

Jan 29, 2015

By Andrea Gagliarducci

Effectively exiled from his friary in Mosul by the Islamic State last year, Fr. Najeeb Michaeel, O.P. is working to... Read more

Ruins in Homs, Syria, as seen in April, 2014.

Jesuit laments car bomb attack in Syria, scorns media silence

Jan 28, 2015

By Oliver Maksan

“Most of them were students at the university, young people who had not left the city. So what sort of... Read more

Partipants at the Catholic media communicators workshop in Lilongwe, Malawi, Jan. 13, 2015.

Malawian bishops commit to spreading the Gospel with new media

Jan 28, 2015

A national symposium of Catholic communicators set out to explore pathways in new media to build unity in Malawi and... Read more

Displaced persons fill a church in Maidiguri, Nigeria, Dec. 2014.

Should the West take on Nigeria's terrorists? Bishops say yes

Jan 26, 2015

Against the background of continuing attacks by radical Islamist group Boko Haram, bishops in Nigeria are appealing for military aid... Read more

The Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon, Louis Sako, speaks during a prayer vigil at St. John Lateran in Rome, Oct. 23, 2014.

Leading Iraqi Christian calls on Muslims to confront 'culture of hatred'

Jan 23, 2015

The Chaldean Patriarch of Babylon has encouraged Iraqi Muslims to confront violent extremists, stressing the need to return to peaceful... Read more

A view of Niamey, the capital of Niger.

Masses suspended in Niger due to church burnings

Jan 22, 2015

The bishops of Niger have canceled Masses and activities at Catholic schools, health care facilities and charity outreaches after Muslim... Read more

School girls in Sierra Leone, November 2013.

Suffering in Sierra Leone, hard-hit by Ebola, reminds bishop of civil war years

Jan 22, 2015

From providing spiritual support to ensuring preventive care, the Diocese of Kenema in the eastern part of Sierra Leone is... Read more

Bishop Zuza of Mzuzu, who died Jan. 15 in a car accident in Malawi.

Malawi's Bishop Joseph Zuza dies in car accident

Jan 15, 2015

Catholics in Malawi are mourning the death of Bishop Joseph Mukasa Zuza of Mzuzu, who died in a car crash... Read more

Sister Sanaa Hana, who was forced from her convent in Mosul by the Islamic State, is seen in Erbil with children in front of a house where she has found refuge.

In Kurdish Iraq, new beginnings for exiled nuns and priests

Jan 14, 2015

By Oliver Maksan

In 2014, more than 120,000 Christians in Iraq, among them dozens of priests and religious, had to flee from the... Read more

An anti-Christian slogan graffitied on a Coptic church in Egypt.

Twenty-one Egyptian Christians kidnapped in Libya

Jan 14, 2015

A Libyan affiliate of the Islamic State claimed the abduction of 21 Coptic Christians on Monday, releasing pictures of those... Read more

Book Market in Qom, Iran.

Farsi Catechism translation offers hope of dialogue in Iran

Jan 13, 2015

By Andrea Gagliarducci

The publication of the Farsi language edition of the Catechism of the Catholic Church may foster further interreligious dialogue in... Read more

A church in Mubi, Adamawa state, destroyed by Boko Haram in November, 2014.

Nigerian bishop hopes for solidarity, as thousands already killed in the new year

Jan 12, 2015

Boko Haram having killed as many as 2,000 in an attack on the town of Baga last week, Archbishop Ignatius... Read more