Archival Photo

On November 22nd, numerous monuments around the world were dyed red, to remind the world of violations of religious freedom. The initiative, called “Red Wednesday”, is part of the so-called “Red Week”, promoted by the pontifical foundation “Aid to the Church that suffers” (ACS).

On this occasion, the aim was to raise awareness among Institutions, policy makers and public opinion regarding violations of religious freedom.

The fundamental human right to freedom of religion is violated in one out of three countries (31%), that is, in 61 out of 196 countries. In total, nearly 4.9 billion people, or 62% of the world’s population, live in countries where religious freedom is severely restricted.

Discrimination and persecution are clearly evident in 61 countries, and in 49 of these it is the government that persecutes its citizens for religious reasons. The total number of Christians living in lands of persecution is over 307 million.