Amidst so much darkness and violence, Holy Family Church in Gaza City - which is supported by the generosity of so many ACN benefactors - remains a beacon of light. In this episode, the remarkable parish priest Fr Gabriel Romanelli shares with Michael Kelly the great suffering of the people, but also what allows them to keep faith and persevere.

With almost 4,000 people killed by powerful earthquakes and tens of thousands of homes destroyed, ACN is on the ground supporting the local people. Brandon and Michael also look at the importance of lobbying politicians around religious freedom and signs of hope from the Holy Land.

Religious freedom: a human right, not a privilege

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For more than 50 years, Bishop William Shomali  has served the Christians of the Holy Land as a priest. He reflects with Brandon Scott on the powerful witness of Aid to the Church in Need in the Holy Land, how he keeps hopeful and a special message of peace he will bring to Ireland next month.

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In this edition of the Faith Under Fire podcast by ACN Ireland, Michael and Brandon interview Archbishop of Erbil Bashar Warda, who talks about his Catholic upbringing in the Middle East, his time in Ireland in the mid-1990s, the stark decline of the Christian population since the 2003 war, how ACN is tackling the issues facing Christians in the country, and his hopes for the future.

Ferdinand Habsburg has recently been appointed as Secretary General of Aid to the Church in Need International. He sat down with Brandon Scott and Michael Kelly for the ‘Faith Under Fire’ podcast to speak about his distinguished royal family, the faith that brought him to ACN, the hope he derives from the suffering Church and how Catholic immigrants are helping to grow the faith in Europe.

Irishwoman Regina Lynch, who heads the world’s leading charity supporting persecuted Christians Aid to the Church in Need, tells Brandon Scott and Michael Kelly about finding hope in the most desperate of places, and her dismay at the fact that the persecution of Christians is largely ignored in the West.

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Though now only 2% of the population of the Holy Land, the Christians are a vital faith community that traces their roots back to the first people to hear the message of Jesus. In this episode, Michael Kelly talks about a recent visit to the Christians of the Holy Land and Brandon Scott reflects on their long-term future and the resilience of Holy Family in Gaza.