ACN’s #RedWeek puts spotlight on Christian persecution

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The #RedWeek campaign, organized by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), will take place November 19-26, with the aim of calling attention to the lack of religious freedom and challenges faced by persecuted Christians in many parts of the world.

In a conflict-ridden world, Christian persecution, and the erosion of the right to religious freedom can go unnoticed. The goal of ACN’s initiative, which includes lighting in red monuments and buildings around the world, is to raise awareness of Christian suffering. Many national offices will also be organizing events, as well as promoting prayer and presenting testimonies from those who suffered persecution first-hand. 

More than 10,000 people are expected at the events organized by ACN in over a dozen countries. About twenty cathedrals will participate and be illuminated in red, including St. Patrick’s in Melbourne, Australia, which will host the second annual Night of the Witnesses on November 22nd, with Joseph Absi, the Patriarch of the Melkite Catholic Church, in attendance. He will speak about the situation of Christians in Syria and the Middle East in general.

Additionally, more than 100 parishes will be lit in Austria, as well as the Parliament building. There will also be a flash mob in Vienna’s Stephansplatz and a meeting with the Speaker of the Austrian Parliament. And in neighboring Slovakia, monuments, churches, and the Nitra and Bratislava castles will take part, and the Church of the Holy Family will hold a fundraising concert. Other major monuments and churches, such as the cathedral of St. Elizabeth, in Kosice, will be illuminated in red.

Rome’s Trevi Fountain

Cathedrals in red

In Germany, about 100 churches are involved, among them the cathedrals of Passau, Regensburg, Freiburg, Dresden, and Paderborn. The country will also hear the testimonies of Bishop Ashkarian from Aleppo, Syria, and Archbishop Sebastian Shaw of Lahore, Pakistan, two countries where Christians are greatly challenged. 

For years, the Netherlands has embraced the #RedWeek campaign, and this year, will bring together 150 Catholic and Protestant parishes that will host a wide array of activities and conferences, including Masses, prayer services, and ecumenical meetings. And they will open their doors to the faithful, so they can pray and light candles for suffering Christians.

On November 22nd, #RedWednesday, the United Kingdom will focus on persecution in Africa, with he presentation of a report on the lack of religious freedom there and the unveiling of two campaigns: the praying of 100,000 decades of the rosary for Africa, and the £100,000 Matched Challenge, to raise funds for victims of religious persecution. Furthermore, a Nigerian couple will be sharing the story of how they survived the 2022 Pentecost attack in Owo, in the diocese of Ondo, Nigeria, that left 39 people dead and about 80 wounded.

In France, the cathedrals of Chartres, Bayonne, Reims, Angers, Caen, Bourges, and Versailles will be lit in red, and there will be prayer and information sessions in Paris, including vigils in the Basilica of Montmartre and the Holy Trinity. Both will be led by diocesan bishops.

#RedWeek in America

Canada will host events in several places, including the Oratory of St. Joseph in Montreal, the largest shrine to St. Joseph in the world. There will also be a Mass in the Cathedral of Mary, Queen of the World.  The vigil in Toronto will take place in St. Michael’s Cathedral. Diocesan bishops will lead both vigils, and the respective buildings will be lit in red.

#RedWeek will also be held in several Latin American countries, such as Mexico and Colombia, where the shrine of Las Lajas will be lit in red. And there will be several events in Cali and Bogotá, especially aimed at young people, including a “Via Lucis,” where participants can hear the testimony of a priest from Uganda and a sister from Venezuela who works in Colombia’s Pacific region.

The #RedWeek initiative originated in Brazil, in 2015, when the local ACN office arranged for the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro to be lit red, to symbolize Christian persecution in Iraq. Inspired by this, the ACN office in Italy had the Fontana de Trevi lit up in April the following year, with the U.K. office later expanding on the idea by introducing #RedWednesday to honor persecuted Christians all over the world on a specific Wednesday in November. Several other countries have followed suit, and the initiative has the support of many Christian denominations. 

Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) supports more than 5,000 projects every year in about 140 countries, helping Christians to live their faith where they are oppressed, or lack the necessary means to cover their pastoral needs.