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A word from the National Director
Welcome to this edition of our Faith Alive Digital Magazine.
In this edition, you will find stories of hope, courage, and quiet strength. From young students in Iraq rebuilding their lives through education, to the powerful reminder of Pope Leo XIV that religious freedom is essential for peace, we see how Faith and compassion continue to make a difference.
We hear from Fr Hugo in Syria, whose parish has once again become a shelter for families caught in conflict. We celebrate the voices of children around the world who joined together in prayer for peace, reminding us that even the smallest hearts can carry great hope.
We hope these stories encourage you, inspire you, and remind you that we are all part of something bigger: a Church that listens, loves, and walks with those in need.
Thank you for your love, your prayers, and your unwavering solidarity.
With gratitude,
Stephen Axisa National Director
IRAQ: ACN SCHOLARSHIPS ARE LIFELINES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
Mr Yohanna Yaqub Alzebari speech during the graduation ceremony at the Catholic University in Erbil (CUE)
For many students at the Catholic University in Erbil (CUE), childhood was marked by funerals, fleeing, and fear. But through the help of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), those heartbreaking stories are being rewritten. ACN scholarships have given students like Mr Yohanna Yaqub Alzebari not just a chance to study, but a reason to believe again.
On September 30, 2025, CUE celebrated the graduation of 114 students, a momentous occasion graced by Church leaders, diplomats, and proud families. Among the graduates was Mr
Yohanna Yaqub Alzebari, whose stirring speech captured the heart of what ACN’s mission truly means: restoring dignity, rebuilding lives, and helping young people find their way home.
A Scholarship That Changed Everything
Yohanna’s story is one of heartbreak and perseverance. From fleeing violence and losing loved ones to watching his father lose the ability to speak, read, and write. Yohanna’s journey was marked by repeated uprooting and uncertainty. “Every time I lost a home,” he said, “I found a new version of myself.”
It was the ACN’s scholarship that became a turning point. “I got awarded a scholarship from ACN to study in the Catholic University in Erbil,” Yohanna shared. “Things were starting to look up, finally.”
That scholarship didn’t just fund his education; it gave him a community, a purpose, and a place to belong. Today, Yohanna not only holds a degree but also works at the university, giving back to the institution that welcomed him when he needed it most.
ACN is giving these young people the hope of a better life
ACN’s Mission: Planting Seeds of Hope
Pope Francis Scholarship, launched by ACN, has been awarded to students like Yohanna since 2022. Archbishop Bashar Matti Warda, chairman of CUE’s board of trustees, emphasised that the University was founded “to be a living presence, an effective mission, and a genuine testimony”. He called education “the greatest service we can offer, because it forms new generations that carry hope and renew life”.
ACN’s support has enabled hundreds of students from Iraq to pursue higher education in a space rooted in dialogue, peace, and shared humanity. These scholarships are more than financial aid; they are lifelines for young people who have survived war, displacement, and trauma.
We Are the People Who Beat All the Odds
Yohanna’s words echo the spirit of every ACN scholar: “We are the people who beat all the odds, and I am here standing before my family and friends as a proof of that.” His speech wasn’t just a personal reflection, it was a collective anthem for a generation that has walked through fire and emerged stronger.
He reminded the audience that “the way forward is rarely straight,” and that finding home is not about geography but about belonging, purpose, and hope. “No matter how many times the road disappears,” he said, “we can always find a new one and go forward.”
A Future Built on Faith and Formation
As CUE prepares to welcome new students for the 2025–2026 academic year, nearly 1,000 students are already enrolled in programmes recognised both locally and internationally. With ACN’s continued support, the University is not just educating minds, but also healing hearts and shaping leaders for Iraq’s future.
In the words of Yohanna, “I want to thank the Catholic University in Erbil, and thank ACN, and thank everyone who helped us find our way home.”
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Group photo of some beneficiaries of ACN Scholarships at the Catholic University in Erbil
Mr Yohanna Yaqub Alzebari speech during the graduation ceremony at the Catholic University in Erbil (CUE)
On 10 October 2025, Pope Leo XIV received a delegation of Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) in a private audience at the Vatican. This was held on the occasion marking 25 years of the foundation’s continued mission to defend the right to religious freedom and to give a voice to Christians who suffer for their Faith around the world.
The delegation was led by Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, ACN’s International President, and Regina Lynch, Executive President of the Foundation.
Also present was ACN Malta’s National Director, Stephen Axisa, together with representatives from several national ACN offices, as well as the Editorial Committee’s leadership of the Religious Freedom in the World Report 2025.
During the audience, the Holy Father addressed the members of the foundation with deep gratitude for their mission and steadfast commitment to persecuted Christians.
“We remember them, we stand with them”
In his address, Pope Leo spoke powerfully about the importance of religious freedom and the Church’s duty to defend it wherever it is threatened.
A girl praying the rosary at St Michael’s Greek Melkite Church in Aleppo
“Your visit is timely, for our world continues to witness rising hostility and violence against those who hold different convictions, including many Christians. In contrast, your mission proclaims that, as one family in Christ, we do not abandon our persecuted brothers and sisters. Rather, we remember them, we stand by them, and we labour to secure their God-given freedoms.”
The Holy Father emphasisied that “the right to religious freedom is not optional but essential”, describing it as “a cornerstone of any just society, for it safeguards the moral space in which conscience may be formed and exercised”.
He reminded that this freedom is not merely a political concession: “Religious freedom, therefore, is not merely a legal right or a privilege granted to us by governments; it is a foundational condition that makes authentic reconciliation possible.”
Pope Leo also recalled the origins of Aid to the Church in Need: “It was from this conviction that your organisation was born. Founded in 1947 in response to the immense suffering left in the wake of war, its mission from the beginning has been to foster forgiveness and reconciliation, and to accompany and give a voice to the Church wherever the Church is in need, wherever the Church is threatened, wherever the Church suffers.”
The Holy Father also highlighted the tangible expression of ACN’s mission across the world — a mission that turns Faith into action through countless projects — and expressed his gratitude for the support he himself received in the Diocese of Chiclayo, in Peru.
He said: “Your commitment also extends to supporting the Church’s mission across the world by reaching communities that are too often isolated, marginalised or under pressure. Wherever Aid to the Church in Need rebuilds a chapel, supports a religious sister, or provides for a radio station or a vehicle, you strengthen the life of the Church, as well as the spiritual and moral fabric of society.”
He praised ACN’s Religious Freedom in the World Report as “a powerful instrument for raising awareness… that bears witness, gives voice to the voiceless, and reveals the hidden suffering of many.”
The Pope concluded with a message of encouragement: “Do not grow weary of doing good (cf. Gal 6:9), for your service bears fruit in countless lives and gives glory to our Father in heaven… May the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Hope, remain close to you and to all who suffer.”
Presentation of the Religious Freedom in the World Report 2025
During the audience, ACN presented to the Holy Father the first advance copy of its Religious Freedom in the World Report 2025, launched on 21 October in Rome. The report, covering 196 countries and extending to more than 1,000 pages, documents the current state of religious freedom and persecution worldwide.
The delegation from ACN giving Pope Leo copies of ACN’s latest Religious Freedom in the World Report. © Vatican Media
A gift from Syria: An Icon of Hope
As a symbol of hope and Faith enduring through suffering, the delegation presented the Holy Father with an icon made from the wood of the destroyed ceiling of the Maronite Cathedral of Saint Elias in Aleppo. The Cathedral, severely damaged during the conflict in Syria, was later restored with the support of Aid to the Church in Need and reopened on 20 July 2020, the feast of its Patron Saint.
The icon represents the resilience of Christian communities in the Middle East and the renewal of faith amid devastation — a testimony to the mission at the heart of Aid to the Church in Need: to accompany the persecuted and to rebuild the Church where it suffers.
The delegation presented the Holy Father with an icon made from the wood of the destroyed ceiling of the Maronite Cathedral of Saint Elias in Aleppo Syria © Vatican Media
HOLY LAND:
HOPE MUST GROW INTO PEACE
As the first phase of the peace deal between Israel and Hamas begins, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, has shared a heartfelt update on the situation of Christians in Gaza.
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Christians praying at the Catholic Parish of the Holy Family, Gaza
A fragile peace, a deep relief
“We are in daily contact with them,” the Cardinal said in an interview with Vatican News. “They keep writing that they still cannot believe they were able to sleep through the night without hearing the sound of bombs.”
This moment of quiet has come after the release of Israeli hostages and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Cardinal Pizzaballa, however, cautioned that the situation “remains very fluid”. Fighting continues between other groups, and the future is uncertain. “We still do not know if [the war] has truly ended,” he said.
Returning to ruins
Even as some families begin to return, they are coming back to devastation. “The situation remains dramatic because everything is destroyed,” the Cardinal explained. “Hospitals are not functioning; schools do not exist. There is still the matter of the bodies of the deceased Israeli hostages that must be recovered.”
Still, he sees signs of hope. “There is a new atmosphere, still fragile, but we hope it will become more stable.”
Visit of Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa to the Holy Family Parish in Gaza following the attack that caused significant damage to the Church and left several people injured and dead
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The closeness of the Church
Throughout the conflict, the Christian community in Gaza has felt the support of the wider Church. “They have felt the closeness of both Pope Leo XIV and Pope Francis,” Pizzaballa said. “They have different personalities, but both expressed their closeness in very concrete ways,” including regular phone calls and aid. Pope Leo even sent antibiotics into Gaza this week.
Hope must grow into peace
Cardinal Pizzaballa reminded listeners that “we must not confuse hope with a solution to the conflict.” He explained, “the end of the war is not the beginning of peace, nor is it the end of the conflict. True peace,” he said, “will require new leadership and a new narrative—one built on mutual respect and fraternity”.
He also spoke about the dignity of the Palestinian people. “One cannot tell the Palestinians that they have no right to be recognised as a people in their own land,” he said. “There have been declarations often only theoretical, that must find concrete realisation
within the context of dialogue between the parties, which they themselves will have to reach, with the help and support of the international community.”
A message for us all
This update is more than a report; it’s a call to prayer, solidarity, and deeper reflection. As Cardinal Pizzaballa reminds us, peace is not automatic. It must be built, day by day, through relationships, respect, and recognition of every person’s dignity.
Let us continue to pray for Gaza, for all who suffer, and for the Church’s mission to be a light in the darkness.
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Visit of Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa to the Holy Family Parish in Gaz
PLEASE DO NOT FORGET SYRIA
With the sound of loud explosions and heavy weapons in the background, Fr Hugo Alaniz, who has been a missionary in Aleppo for over a decade, tells Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) about one of the most difficult days that the city’s Christian community has experienced in recent months.
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Ruins in Aleppo. Streets and buildings destroyed
“On a particular day there were intense clashes even until 3.00am, explosions were heard everywhere. Now the situation is somewhat calmer, but people are very afraid. We have been receiving families in the basement of our church, where we usually do community activities,” he says in a message sent to ACN, an international Catholic charity with which he is in frequent contact.
Syria held parliamentary elections on Monday, 6 October, the first since the fall of Bashar alAssad’s regime. The vote took place in a context of tensions between the central authorities and Kurdish forces which operate in the north and wish to maintain autonomy.
Direct fighting between the two factions is taking place in parts of the city of Aleppo, where two neighbourhoods of the city are already administered by Kurdish forces. The repercussions are strongly felt among the civilian population, which fears a new wave of violence. “Today the schools have remained closed due to the fighting,” the priest confirms.
Fr Hugo Alaniz, a member of the Institute of the Incarnate Word (IVE) and Parish Priest of Our Lady of the Assumption, is in charge of the pastoral and humanitarian care of hundreds of families affected by the war and by the economic crisis that follows years of conflict and siege.
His church has become, not for the first time, a makeshift shelter for residents seeking protection from attacks and shelling: “Two missiles have fallen near us, one only 300 meters from our church. Others landed in another part of the city, near the Latin bishopric.”
Tension began to mount during the day, Fr Hugo tells ACN: “There was a lot of movement of people, internal displacements; the streets are now half empty.”
Aleppo, which for centuries was considered the economic and cultural heart of Syria, remains one of the cities hardest hit by the conflict. Reconstruction is progressing slowly and the wounds of the war are still visible in the eastern and northern neighbourhoods of the city.
Fr Hugo assures ACN that his mission, along with other Priests and Religious Sisters, is “to be close to the people, to console, listen and help in whatever way we can”.
“The only thing we ask is that you pray for us. On a day like today, when the Holy Father has asked us to pray the rosary for peace, do not forget Syria.”
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Fr. Hugo Alaniz r
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YEARS
RAISING YOUNG VOICES FOR PEACE
What began as a simple invitation to prayer has become a global movement of grace. In October 2025, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) organised the 20th edition of One Million Children Praying the Rosary campaign with extraordinary impact. This campaign attracted children from every continent into a united cry for peace.
Pope Leo XIV, continuing the tradition of his predecessor Pope Francis, personally endorsed the campaign on social media, writing: “As we contemplate with Mary the mysteries of Christ our Saviour, let us deepen our prayer for peace, which should become concrete solidarity with people tormented by war”. His words echoed across borders, inspiring families, schools, and parishes to gather in prayer.
By 8 October 2025, nearly 500,000 children from 111 countries had officially registered online—but the true number is believed to be far higher, as countless groups joined informally. From war-torn villages to bustling cities, the rosary became a lifeline of hope.
In Mozambique’s Diocese of Lichinga, where Islamist insurgency has shaken
communities for seven years, 100 children gathered to pray. “Many had never said a rosary before,” the Parish Priest shared. “This was the first of many opportunities to pray together.”
In Nigeria’s Diocese of Jalingo, children prayed across parishes and chaplaincies, adding Holy Hour adoration as “pilgrims of hope among the peoples”. Their heartfelt plea: “May God hear our prayers and grant us unity and peace in our troubled world”.
From Poland’s 86,000 participants to small groups in Liberia and Algeria, the campaign’s reach was both vast and intimate. Each child’s prayer became part of a global tapestry of Faith – a proof that even the smallest voices can shake the Heavens.
For full participation numbers and stories from around the world, visit https://acninternational.org/millionchildrenpraying/ and explore the interactive map.
Children in Poland joined the one million children prayer campaign
MASS OFFERING A GIFT THAT TRANSFORMS LIVES
In places of poverty, war, and even discrimination and persecution on the basis of religion, many Priests continue to serve their communities with heroic Faith but without financial support.
Through Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), you can offer a lifeline of hope by requesting a Mass to be celebrated for your intentions. Few Catholics know that apart from being offered for the repose of someone dear, Holy Masses can also be celebrated for healing of living persons and thanksgiving for graces received.
Your Mass offering becomes more than a prayer – it becomes a lifeline for persecuted Priests and suffering Catholic communities worldwide.
SINGLE MASS For the living or deceased €5 per Mass
Visit acnmalta.org/mass-stipends to request a Mass and make your offering.
You can choose your intention, receive an acknowledgement, and know your gift is making a
Thank you for being their
TRIDUUM MASSES Celebrated over three consecutive days €15 (3 Masses)
NOVENA MASSES For sustained prayer over nine days €45 (9 Masses)
GREGORIAN MASSES For one deceased person over 30 consecutive days €250 (30 Masses)
