Today, #RedWednesday, marks launch of report on innocent Christians held against their will.The plight of Christians who are kidnapped or unjustly jailed is the focus of a fresh report produced by the UK office of the Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN).
Set Your Captives Free: A Report on Christians unjustly detained for their Faith will be launched today on #RedWednesday (November 25). #RedWednesday is an initiative started by ACN in 2015 to support suffering and persecuted Christians.
Set Your Captives Free profiles individuals of different ages who have been kidnapped by extremist groups or arrested by the state and held without charge. Report editor John Pontifex said: “In different parts of the world, Christians are unjustly denied their freedom, many for the precise reason that they refuse to give up their faith. They live in fear and many suffer in complete silence. Who is there to be their voice? Set Your Captives Free gives them the chance to tell their stories, call for justice, and appeal for liberty.”
The report, the first of its kind by the charity, complements other ongoing ACN research projects including the Religious Freedom in the World report and Persecuted and Forgotten? A Report on Christians oppressed for their Faith. It is intended as a springboard for ACN supporters to advocate for the release of those unjustly detained and demand perpetrators be brought to justice.
Many countries around the world, from Canada to Australia, are taking part in the #RedWeek initiative. During this time religious monuments will be floodlit in red. This includes the statue of Christ “Cristo Redentor” in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where the campaign first began in 2015, which will be lit to remember the victims of persecution in northern Mozambique, where it is estimated that more than 2,000 people have been killed and over 400,000 others have been forced to flee their homes. Reflecting the theme of the report, the Christ the Kind Parrish of Bogotá in Colombia will be illuminated as part of a prayer campaign for the release of the Colombian missionary Gloria Narvaez, kidnapped in Mali in 2017.
