Red Wednesday is an annual event to remember and pray for all who are persecuted and oppressed for their Christian faith.
For the Red Wednesday Mass, the façade of Our Lady of Dolours Church, Chatswood will be floodlit in red on the night.
All are welcome to join in and support Christians who are unable to speak freely, and those of all faiths who are robbed of their religious freedom and persecuted for their beliefs. Forecourt refreshments will be available following Mass.
The Red Wednesday initiative
The Red Wednesday Mass video will be available live and on demand at the link below.
Red Wednesday Mass live video stream
Aid to the Church in Need
Founded in 1947 as a Catholic aid organisation for war refugees and declared a Pontifical Foundation by Pope Benedict XVI, Aid to the Church in Need is the only international Catholic charity dedicated to the pastoral and spiritual support of suffering and persecuted Christians. The work is not funded by Church or State but relies solely on benefactors around the world.
Aid to the Church in Need started Red Wednesday in 2016 to promote their Religious Freedom in the World Report. Cathedrals, Churches and public buildings in the UK were bathed in red – to symbolise the blood shed by millions of martyrs.
That initiative has become a global tradition whilst the number of people persecuted for their beliefs has unfortunately increased. Religious freedoms are violated in almost one third of the countries (31.6%) of the World, where two thirds of the world’s population live. Of a total of 195 countries, 62 face severe religious freedom violations. The number of people living in these countries is close to 5.2 billion.
www.aidtochurch.org/red-wednesday