Rome's historic Trevi Fountain will be dyed red in recognition of Christian martyrs around the world.
Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) is organising the
demonstration on April 29 to "call attention to the drama of
anti-Christian persecution".
The Chaldean Catholic Bishop of Aleppo, Antoine Audo, will share
testimony of the persecution Christians face in the Middle East,
alongside other witnesses to Christian massacres in Yemen, Pakistan,
Turkey, Kenya and Nigeria.
ACN said it hopes this will mark "the start of a long lasting,
concrete reaction everywhere so that the persecuted people of the
21st century can as soon as possible return to fully enjoying their
natural right to religious freedom."
It is crucial, the charity said, that
"the systematic violation of the right to religious freedom, especially
that of Christians... become the central issue of the public debate."
The international president of ACN, Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, will introduce the event.
The initiative is supported by a number of organisations including
Communion and Liberation, Caritas Italy, the Christian Workers Movement
and the Focolare Movement.
The atrocities committed against Christians, Yazidis and other
minorities in the Middle East by ISIS were labelled a 'genocide' by the
House of Commons on Wednesday. The European Parliament passed a similar
motion unanimously in February and the US secretary of state John Kerry
declared ISIS was "genocidal" in March.
2015 saw "the most violent and sustained attack on Christian faith in
modern history", according to Christian persecution organisation Open
Doors.
"The persecution of Christians is getting worse, in every region in
which we work – and it's getting worse fast," said Lisa Pearce, Open
Doors' CEO.
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