Chai Brady
Dozens of Churches across Ireland will be lit in red this coming Wednesday to highlight the suffering of Christians around the world.
This is the the first time the event will be held in Ireland, and already 30 parishes have pledged to join the demonstration on November 22.
So far some of Ireland’s largest Catholic buildings, including Armagh, Waterford and Carlow Cathedrals and the basilica of Knock, will be lit in red.
Organiser Michael Kinsella from Aid to the Church in Need said the event, entitled ‘Red Wednesday’, is primarily focused on showing solidarity with Christians suffering persecution for their Faith in the Middle East, but also the softer discrimination that occurs in the Western world – particularly due to secularisation.
Mr Kinsella said that Dioceses across the country have embraced the initiative, especially now that many Irish people are aware of atrocities being committed against Christians by extremists such as ISIS.
Population
“The population of Christians in Iraq in 1980 was in and around 3.5 million, and now it’s hovering around the 50,000 mark – this is genocide, and that’s just in one country,” Mr Kinsella said.
He added that many people don’t believe Christians are the most persecuted religion in the world. “I’ve had people openly laugh at the concept of Christian persecution, it’s about confronting those architype assumptions.”
Some of the actions visited upon Christians would include anything from denial of jobs, harassment, homelessness and physical abuse, to kidnap, false imprisonment, torture and murder.
Participants are encouraged to wear red, as it is the colour of Christian martyrdom, and at 12 noon and 6pm are asked to pray the Angelus remembering the suffering of people for the Church. At each participant church the priest will give a homily on the theme of Christian persecution.
Living the Faith
“We will acknowledge it is, in many countries across the world, a capital crime to profess living the Faith. In many countries across the world if you are caught professing a Christian Faith you will be killed, and these will be countries with Western allies, Pakistan in particular,” he said.
Mr Kinsella said that in a rush towards “progressivism and secularism” care should be taken that Irish Christian are not discriminated against for their Faith beliefs.
The hashtag for the event on Twitter is #RedWednesday, and parishes can pledge their support by emailing info@acnireland.org.