As a Catholic and Pontifical organization, Aid to the Church in Need is particularly
concerned with the poor, oppressed, or persecuted communities.
Red Wednesday is an event aimed at highlighting the persecution and injustice
suffered by Christians, while promoting respect and tolerance between people of
different religions. We want people to take a stand for their faith, and more broadly,
for religious freedom.
Currently, 327 million Christians live in a country where there is religious
persecution. Another 178 million live in a country where there is discrimination.
It makes 505 million Christians who are at risk. Although it is difficult to keep a
precise count, we believe that 75% of religiously motivated violence is
perpetrated against Christians.
In solidarity with Christians who suffer for their faith, we are inviting people to
organize an event around that theme, to make themselves visible by wearing red,
illuminating their church or another significant building in red, as this colour is
associated with martyrdom in the Christian tradition.
What you can do
The scheduled date is November 17th (3rd week of November). In 2022, it will be on
November 16th. We are trying to coordinate so that the events take place on the same
day to draw attention to persecution.
You can:
Illuminate in red a church or other important building in your area;
Organize a mass for persecuted Christians;
Organize a vigil or a moment of prayer;
Say a rosary;
Choose special universal prayers to include in a celebration;
Invite people to wear red;
Organize a presentation on religious persecution or religious freedom with the help
of Aid to the Church in Need;
Use social media to publicize the event and raise awareness of the cause;
Hold a press conference;
Have a fundraiser to help the affected communities.
If you wish, we will supply the following material: (Can be downloaded from our website http://acn-canada.org/red-wednesday)
- Posters to publicize your event;
- Texts describing the issue;
- Examples of cases of persecution;
- Texts to celebrate a mass;
- Texts for a rosary;
- Texts for a prayer vigil;
- Adapted universal prayers;
- Red scarves to wear to show our solidarity (contact us 514-932-0552).
Our dream is to rally dioceses and parishes from across Canada to have a greater
impact on the collective psyche and to make the situation of our brothers and sisters
who suffer for their faith known. Furthermore, we are showing them that they are not
forgotten.
You can adapt the material to your own situation.
Join #RedWednesday or #MercrediRouge
Last year events took place at the diocesan level, in parishes, in prayer groups, and in
schools. Tell us what you are doing, and we’ll publicize it!
For information: Valérie Vulcain, Annual Campaign Coordinator, vv@acn-canada.org,
or 1-800-585-6333, ext. 227
Aid to the Church in Need
C.P. 670, Succ. H,Montreal, QC H3G 2M6
Society and Religious Persecution
In our secular society, injustices against believers are largely ignored—possibly
because religion is absent from the public arena. It is also because people are
less and less educated about religion. These factors make it difficult for some to
understand the situation as most Westerners do not fully understand the nature
and extent of the phenomenon of religious persecution today.
Therefore, Red Wednesday aims at making Christians aware of what is
happening in the world and encourage them to act through prayer, and in another
way, by supporting Aid to the Church in Need projects in Syria, Iraq or any other
country where persecution is taking place.
Objectives
To strengthen the faith of the faithful through the example of others who suffer
persecution, but who remain strong in their faith;
To inform and educate about religious freedom as well as persecution, since
the lack of religious freedom is in fact a human rights issue enshrined in the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 18;
To make known the work of Aid to the Church in Need in the various aspects
of its mission, especially with persecuted communities around the world;
To encourage Christians of all ages and traditions to stand up for their faith
and for religious freedom as well as for the right of Christians throughout the
world to live their faith peacefully, without fear or obstruction;
To raise public awareness and educate on the issue using reports produced
by Aid to the Church in Need –Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on
Christians Oppressed for their Faith and the World Religious Freedom Report –
to bring understanding as to why the issue of religious persecution is still very
much relevant today.