ACN News: Wednesday, 22nd November 2017 – PHILIPPINES

ACN Philippines to join UK in holding #RedWednesday events

By Josemaria E Claro (in Manila)


Aid to the Church in Need in the Philippines will join ACN (UK) in holding #RedWednesday as support for the initiative gains momentum around the world.

A total of 47 cathedrals, 29 basilicas, national and diocesan shrines all over the Philippines are set to participate in #RedWednesday on 22nd November. Manila Cathedral will be taking part in #RedWednesday – as will the Basilica of the Black Nazarene in Quiapo and the National Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, two churches that attract thousands of devotees and Massgoers on weekdays. #RedWednesday will also be celebrated at the Shrine of Our Lady of Peace, at the heart of the Epifanio de los Santos Avenue highway where protesters gathered during the 1986 People Power Revolution.

Archbishop Gabrielle Giordano Caccia, the Apostolic Nuncio Designate in the Philippines, will preside at the Mass in Manila Cathedral. Bishop Edwin de la Peña of the Prelature of Marawi, whose cathedral was destroyed by Daesh (ISIS) inspired extremist forces in May, will to be the homilist.

The Philippines’ participation in #RedWednesday comes as the UK prepares activities with the Houses of Parliament in London and at least 10 cathedrals lighting red. Schools and higher-education institutes in both the Philippines and the UK are supporting the initiative.

In the Philippines, the University of Santo Tomas, the oldest university in Asia, will hold a conference on Christian persecution at which Mark von Riedemann, Director for Public Affairs and Religious Freedom of ACN, will be the keynote speaker. Ateneo de Manila University, a Jesuit institution, will also light its 110,000-square-foot campus church in red. The Ateneo will also hold a Mass for persecuted Christians and set up an exhibit on Christian martyrs to coincide with #RedWednesday.

At ACN’s request, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has endorsed the #RedWednesday campaign. According to the charity’s local office, most Filipinos are not aware of the extent of Christian persecution in many areas around the world, including in the mostly Muslim regions of the country’s southern archipelago. ACN hopes #RedWednesday will boost Filipinos’ awareness of persecuted Christians and support them through prayer, information, and action.

In Malta the Auberge de Castille, the prime minister’s office, has been lit up red – and several of the charity’s other national offices are preparing to light up buildings in their country for #RedWednesday 2018.


Editor’s Notes

Directly under the Holy See, Aid to the Church in Need supports the faithful wherever they are persecuted, oppressed or in pastoral need. ACN is a Catholic charity – helping to bring Christ to the world through prayer, information and action.
The charity undertakes thousands of projects every year including providing transport for clergy and lay Church workers, construction of church buildings, funding for priests and nuns and help to train seminarians. Since the initiative’s launch in 1979, Aid to the Church in Need’s Child’s Bible – God Speaks to his Children has been translated into 172 languages and 50 million copies have been distributed all over the world.
While ACN gives full permission for the media to freely make use of the charity’s press releases, please acknowledge ACN as the source of stories when using the material.

For more information or to make a donation to help the work of Aid to the Church in Need, please contact the Australian office of ACN on (02) 9679-1929. e-mail: info@aidtochurch.org or write to Aid to the Church in Need PO Box 7246 Baulkham Hills BC NSW 2153.

On Line donations can be made at www.aidtochurch.org