ACN News: Wednesday, 22nd November 2017 – IRAQ/WORLD
High res images available on request

Christians in Iraq to join in #RedWednesday

By John Pontifex


Persecuted Christians in Iraq are to take part in today’s #RedWednesday as the campaign to promote faith and freedom goes global.

Chaldean Catholic Archbishop Bashar Warda of Erbil, in Kurdish northern Iraq, confirmed yesterday (Tuesday, 21st Nov) that a #RedWednesday prayer vigil will take place in Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church, opened last year in response to an influx of Christians fleeing persecution. In his message, sent to #RedWednesday organisers Aid to the Church in Need, the Archbishop told the Catholic charity that he intends to floodlight the church red, making it one of hundreds around the world taking part in the initiative which shines a light on religious persecution.

Meanwhile, in the UK, final #RedWednesday preparations are underway with up to 12 cathedrals there scheduled to go red along with the Houses of Parliament in Westminster. A red ‘Routemaster’ London bus emblazoned with #RedWednesday slogans will weave its way past London landmarks including St Paul’s Cathedral, Trafalgar Square and Regent Street before crossing Westminster Bridge and returning to Westminster Cathedral which will be floodlit.

From 6pm, people will gather for music, testimonies and speeches from Coptic Orthodox Bishop Angaelos of London, Neville Kyrke-Smith, Aid to the Church in Need (UK) National Director and Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of Christian Solidarity Worldwide.

In the USA, Christian activists have launched a fresh push for churches and other Christian buildings in the state of Tennessee to floodlight red, and there are pledges of #RedWednesday support from countries including Malta and Gibraltar.

In the Philippines, more than 70 cathedrals and other leading churches are also due to floodlight red.


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