Churches and Landmarks Worldwide Will Glow Red Next Week for Persecuted Christians

Next week, cathedrals, churches and landmarks on nearly every continent will glow red, the color of the blood of martyrs, to remind the world of Christians who are suffering for their faith.

Red Week 2026 runs Nov. 15-22, with Red Wednesday on Nov. 18, OSV News reported ^[1]. The campaign is organized by Aid to the Church in Need, a Catholic charity and pontifical foundation, and more than 1,000 churches and landmarks, including at least 130 cathedrals, are expected to take part ^[1][2].

"Persecution isn't something from the history books," said Edward Clancy, outreach director for the charity's U.S. office, according to OSV News ^[1].

A World Lit in Red

The list of participating sites spans the globe. OSV News reported that Ireland's Knock Basilica and all 26 diocesan cathedrals on the island of Ireland will take part, along with St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, every one of the Philippines' 87 dioceses and the towering Christ the King statue overlooking Lisbon ^[1].

In Austria, more than 330 churches, monasteries and public buildings are signed up, a record and a 40% increase over last year, and the country's presidential chancery in Vienna will be lit on Nov. 16 ^[1]. A public prayer march there on Nov. 17 is expected to draw 1,500 to 2,000 people, OSV News reported ^[1]. The European Parliament building in Strasbourg, France, will be illuminated on Nov. 23, according to EWTN News ^[2].

In Canada, the charity's national office will hold a Red Wednesday Mass at St. Michael's Cathedral Basilica in Toronto on Nov. 18 ^[3]. Its campaign this year features the story of Chico, a father from Mozambique ^[3].

Red Week grew from a simple act of solidarity. The charity's office in Brazil lit Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer statue red for Iraqi Christians in 2015, and its British office later began Red Wednesday, OSV News reported ^[1].

The Scale of Persecution

The numbers behind the campaign are sobering. Religious freedom is seriously violated in 62 of the world's 196 countries, and about 220 million Christians are directly exposed to persecution, according to Aid to the Church in Need figures cited by OSV News ^[1]. Some 413 million Christians live in countries where religious freedom is seriously violated ^[1][2].

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EWTN News reported that the charity's 2025 Religious Freedom in the World report found that more than 5.4 billion people, almost two-thirds of humanity, live in places where religious freedom is not fully guaranteed ^[2]. In 33 countries, Christians have been forced from their homes because of their faith, and in 57 countries they have suffered physical violence or detention, the outlet reported ^[2].

A new report from the charity, released in October, found that conditions for Christians deteriorated in 55% of the 18 countries it studied between 2024 and 2026, OSV News reported ^[1].

Regina Lynch, executive president of Aid to the Church in Need International, said the week is meant to "remember the millions of Christians who suffer discrimination and persecution because of their faith," EWTN News reported ^[2].

Voices From the Front Lines

The campaign will bring church leaders from some of the hardest places to be a Christian before European lawmakers. OSV News reported that Chaldean Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, Iraq; Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja, Nigeria; and Bishop Samson Shukardin of Hyderabad, Pakistan, president of the Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference, are among the bishops taking part ^[1]. Shukardin is scheduled to speak at a Nov. 18 conference in Brussels hosted by the European Parliament's intergroup on freedom of religion, belief and conscience ^[1].

In the United States, Bishop Robert Brennan of Brooklyn, whose diocese is home to the charity's U.S. offices, called the scale of persecution shocking, OSV News reported ^[1]. The U.S. office is encouraging American parishes, schools and families to light their churches red, wear red, pray and host talks during the week ^[1].

How Americans Can Take Part

For American Christians, Red Week is a chance to do what Scripture asks: to remember those in chains as though bound with them. Most believers in this country worship in freedom. Millions of brothers and sisters in Nigeria, Pakistan, Iraq and elsewhere cannot take that for granted.

Participation is simple. Parishes can light their buildings, families can wear red to Mass or services on Red Wednesday, and congregations can set aside time to pray for the persecuted by name. Aid to the Church in Need's U.S. office invites participants to register their events through its website, OSV News reported ^[1].

Religious freedom, Lynch told OSV News, is not a privilege but a fundamental human right ^[1]. Next week, the world's churches will light up to say so.