In Christianity, red is the color of martyrdom.
For this reason on November 22, churches and public buildings around the world were lit up red in celebration of Red Wednesday—a day to honor and remember those killed or tortured for their religious beliefs.
Launched last year by the charity organization, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the event originally was designed to honor Christian martyrs, but it has gained significance to all those who have suffered for their religious faiths.
“Prayer is the cornerstone of the Red Wednesday campaign,” said Patricia Hatton, head fundraiser for ACN. “We are calling for respect and tolerance of people of faith, but we are also asking for respect and tolerance between faith traditions. There should be mutual respect between faith groups.”
The red floodlights shone around the world, from London’s Parliament building and Westminster Cathedral to at least 80 Catholic churches and schools in the Philippines, to Chaldean churches in Northern Iraq, and in many other places.
“We seem to have developed a blind spot regarding the nature and scale of the Christian persecution in the world today,” said Hatton, whose ACN brochure points out that in 2016, 90,000 people were murdered for their faith and nearly 500 million Christians worldwide were unable to freely practice their beliefs.
The worldwide response to Red Wednesday was beyond even the wildest expectations of ACN, which simply invited “everyone to make a visible statement by wearing red, and, if resources allow, light their own parishes or buildings or local monuments in red.”
