On November 19, cathedrals and churches around the world lit up in red in celebration of Red Wednesday.
Photo: ACN
Newsroom(11/20/2025 12:26, Gaudium Press) From Vienna to Bogotá, via Sydney and Paris, more than 600 churches and monuments around the world were lit up in red this November as part of #RedWeek 2025, an international campaign organized by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) to draw attention to the plight of persecuted Christians, raise awareness of religious persecution, and defend religious freedom.
This year’s #RedWeek took place from November 15 to 23 and included more than 100 events around the world, many of them scheduled for November 19, the date of #RedWednesday, the central day of the international campaign promoted by ACN. Among other countries, Australia, Austria, Germany, Portugal, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Ireland, Switzerland, Hungary, Canada, Mexico, and Colombia participated.
Red Week 2025 in various countries
In France, Red Week was marked by “Nights of Testimony,” and celebrated in several cities, offering moments of prayer and testimony. For the first time, iconic Parisian monuments such as the Obelisk of Concord, the New Bridge, and the Bridge of Arts were illuminated in red, creating a striking visual message in the heart of the French capital.
In Germany, more than 190 churches signed up to participate. The Netherlands contributed another 200 illuminated churches, thus extending the visibility of Red Week throughout the country. Portugal illuminated iconic sites in Lisbon, Braga, Porto, and Viana do Castelo.
Some of the world’s most representative churches and cathedrals were also illuminated in red during Red Week 2025. These included St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica and Mary Queen of the World Cathedral Basilica in Canada; the Shrine of Las Lajas in Colombia; the cathedrals of Worms and Regensburg in Germany; and a remarkable number of cathedrals in Australia and New Zealand, including those in Perth, Hobart, Melbourne, Newcastle, Bendigo, and Palmerston North.
St George’s Cathedral in London was one of the main buildings lit up in red for #RedWednesday and hosted ACN UK’s main national event: a Mass on November 19, celebrated by Bishop Nicholas Hudson. At the Mass, Tobias Yayaha, a catechist from Sokoto in northwestern Nigeria, received the Courage to be Christian Award from ACN UK. In addition, he was the guest of honour at a parliamentary event in Westminster on the morning of the same day.
Persecution of Christians, a global phenomenon
According to estimates from ACN’s latest Report on Religious Freedom in the World 2025, 413 million Christians live in countries where religious freedom is severely restricted; of these, approximately 220 million live directly exposed to persecution. This means that 1 in 10 Christians in the world lives exposed to persecution.
This persecution takes many forms and varies by region, but the overall figures provide an illustrative picture of the magnitude of the problem: Christians are exposed to persecution or discrimination in 32 countries. In 68 countries, Christian property has been damaged or destroyed with a clear religious bias, with churches being the main target.
In 45 countries, Christians cannot publicly express their faith with religious symbols in public places. Physical or verbal attacks on religious grounds have been reported in 73 countries, and in 57 of them, Christians are victims of physical violence or detention because of their faith. In 33 countries, Christians are forced to flee, becoming displaced within their own country or refugees abroad due to religious persecution.
The color red, symbolizing the blood of martyrs, served as a visual reminder of the suffering that millions of people endure because of their faith. ACN invited all parishes, schools, and communities to join in this gesture of international solidarity by lighting up their churches in red, organizing moments of prayer, and sharing a message during Red Week 2025 on social media with the hashtags #RedWeek2025 and #RedWednesday2025.
With information from ACN
Compiled by Teresa Joseph
Related Images:
