World turns red for persecuted Christians

From Vienna to Bogota, Sydney to Paris, more than 600 churches and monuments around the world will be illuminated in red between November 15 and 23 as part of #RedWeek 2025, an international campaign organized by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) to highlight the plight of persecuted Christians and promote religious freedom.

The central day of the campaign will be #RedWednesday, November 19, with more than 100 events scheduled, including prayers, public events, concerts, school meetings and marches. More than 10,000 people are expected to participate directly and the impact is expected to reach more than 500,000 participants through media and digital platforms.

Among the most prominent witnesses will be the Colombian nun Gloria Narvaez, kidnapped for almost five years by Islamist extremists in Mali, who will speak in Mexico, and the German missionary Hans-Joachim Lohre, also kidnapped in Mali, who will give his testimony in Switzerland. In Germany, seven major events will be attended by Nigerian Bishop Wilfred Chikpa Anagbe, including a solemn Mass in the red-lit Regensburg Cathedral.

United in a single gesture

During #RedWeek, more than 635 churches and monuments in cities such as Vienna, Rome, Zurich, Lisbon, London, Brussels, Berlin, Paris, Dublin, Toronto, Mexico City and Bogota will be illuminated in red, symbolizing the blood of the martyrs. For the first time, emblematic monuments in Paris such as the Obelisk of Concorde and the Pont des Arts will also join the campaign.

In Germany, more than 190 churches have registered, while the Netherlands will illuminate some 200, and Portugal will illuminate in Lisbon, Braga, Porto and Viana do Castelo. Some of the most representative cathedrals participating include St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica and Mary Queen of the World Cathedral in Canada, the cathedral of Las Lajas Shrine in Colombia and several cathedrals in Australia and New Zealand, including Perth, Hobart, Melbourne and Newcastle.

In London, St. George's Cathedral will be the center of ACN UK's main national event with a Mass presided over by Bishop Nicholas Hudson and the presentation of the Courage to be Christian award to Tobias Yayaha, a catechist from Sokoto, Nigeria.

A global phenomenon

According to ACN's World Religious Freedom 2025 Report, 413 million Christians live in countries where their religious freedom is severely limited, and 220 million suffer direct persecution (1 in 10 Christians). Christians face violence, discrimination and destruction of property in 32 countries, physical or verbal attacks in 73 countries, and forced displacement in 33 countries.

ACN invites all parishes, schools and communities to join in by lighting their churches in red, symbolizing the blood of the martyrs, organizing moments of prayer and spreading messages on social networks with the tags #RedWeek2025 and #RedWednesday2025, in a gesture of global solidarity for the millions of persecuted Christians in the world.