23rd February 2026

Pakistan launched multiple airstrikes on Saturday night targeting militants in neighbouring Afghanistan. Dozens of people, including children, were killed and wounded. Islamabad said the attacks targeted seven alleged militant camps and hideouts near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Recent attacks by Afghsnistan in Pakistan include one on a Shia mosque in the capital Islamabad earlier this month, as well as others that took place since Ramadan began this week in the north-western Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.  However,  Afghan government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid accused Pakistan of carrying out the strikes to compensate for what he described as security weaknesses inside the country. A Qatar-mediated ceasefire has largely held, but there is no formal agreement, and relations remain strained. 

Loving God, we express our sadness that relationships between Pakistan and Afghanistan are not good and that people are being killed, injured and traumatised. We ask for your loving compassionate care for all who grieve and your healing for all who are injured. Wrap into your protection all those who are innocent and simply caught-up in violence.  Move through the communities on both sides of the border that they may not regard each other as enemies, but as neighbours with shared hopes for safety, dignity, and a better future living in unity together.  Guide all who are seeking to negotiate a lasting peace.  Grant them wisdom and courage and the skills to bring proud nations together so they may be able to find agreement for the common good.   In Jesus' name we pray.  Amen.

Christian churches in north-east Nigeria are witnessing a huge growth in worshippers. Bishops are reporting that people are returning “in their thousands, not hundreds” despite more than a decade of brutal violence. Bishop Oliver Doeme and Bishop John Bakeni of Maiduguri Diocese in Borno State told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) that congregations have grown beyond pre-insurgency levels, even after years of displacement, killings and destruction.  “The faith of our people is unshakeable,” Bishop Doeme told ACN.  He added that persecution had, paradoxically, strengthened the Church - “The moment the church faces persecution, the people become more alive, their faith becomes more active” he said. “Despite gunshots … bomb attacks … series of attacks … you will find them going to Masses for their sacraments.”  “Ordinarily, when people are confronted with violence, the church should be less populated,” Bishop Bakeni said. “But what we are seeing is the opposite. As bad as the persecution is, this is the testimonies we have. It’s the testimonies of faith and the faith which is tested.”

Loving God, you are gracious and compassionate.

 You know each person by name.  

You have made us, you have redeemed us

and you live within us by your Holy Spirit.

Praise and glory be to you heavenly Father.

We thank you for all that gives our lives fulfilment

and we thank you for the peace within that only Christ can give.

We thank you for the wonder of your creation,

the beauty in a flower's petal,

the chill of snow on our cheek,

the taste of fresh water,

the smell of a lavender stem

and the sound of a buzzing bee. 

We thank you that through creation's diversity

and the interconnections, of winds and ocean currents,

of micro-ecologies and interplanetary explosions

we may glimpse something of your magnificence.

We praise you for your Word,

made flesh in Jesus our Lord and Saviour. 

All praise, honour, glory and power be to you O Lord.  Amen.