Red Wednesday, the Catholic Church’s annual remembrance of persecuted Christians around the world, is set for November 29.
An initiative of the papal charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), this year’s event is themed “Embracing Persecuted, Oppressed, and Needy Christians.”
According to Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), this year’s theme is drawn from “the pastoral direction of the Universal Church through the Synod of Synodality.”
ACN invites the faithful to show their solidarity by wearing red when attending the Holy Mass on this day.
Parishes are also encouraged to light up the façade of their churches in red.
Red Wednesday was launched in 2015 and is observed every November.
According to ACN, detestable acts continue to cause significant suffering to Christians around the world.
“It is not enough to remain complacent. In these trying times, we must do our best to help our oppressed Christian brothers and sisters,” they said.
ACN has been monitoring 24 countries where it is particularly difficult to practice the Christian faith, which helps them to fully understand the experiences of persecuted individuals and how the Church can properly assist them.
For instance, their data from 2020 to 2022 show that India had more than 800 attacks against Christians, which ACN considers a ‘record high’ statistic.
They also noted worsening cases of Christian persecution in Nigeria, Syria, Turkey, India, Qatar, and North Korea compared to their data from 2017–2019.
Radio Veritas Asia (RVA), a media platform of the Catholic Church, aims to share Christ. RVA started in 1969 as a continental Catholic radio station to serve Asian countries in their respective local language, thus earning the tag “the Voice of Asian Christianity.” Responding to the emerging context, RVA embraced media platforms to connect with the global Asian audience via its 21 language websites and various social media platforms.
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