From November 15 to 23, 2025, the week-long “Red Week 2025” campaign unfolded across the globe. This year, more than 600 churches and public landmarks in countries such as Italy, Australia, Austria, and Germany, were illuminated in red to raise public awareness of religious persecution and to advocate for freedom of belief. On November 19, the European Parliament building in Brussels lit up in red for the first time, symbolizing the unified support of all 27 EU member states for this global initiative promoting religious freedom.
The “Red Week” campaign was launched in 2015 by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), an international Catholic aid organization, and it has since received widespread support from countries around the world. During the “Red Week,” churches, historic buildings, and public landmarks are illuminated in red to honor Christians who have suffered persecution or even shed their blood for their faith. People also take to the streets to join marches, gatherings, and collective prayers—hoping to raise public awareness of the plight faced by persecuted Christians and to call on society to uphold religious freedom as a fundamental human right.
This year’s Red Week also drew participation from thousands Christians and advocates of religious freedom around the world. According to ACN, more than 10,000 people were expected to take part in on-site events, while media outreach and online platforms reached over 500,000 participants worldwide. Among those who joined were Christians who had fled China after years of arrests and abuse under the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) persecution. They took part in public meetings, marches, and gatherings at major locations such as the Palazzo Lombardia in Italy, the Palazzo Chigi in Rome, and St. Stephen’s Cathedral in Vienna, Austria. At these events, they mourned the Christians killed under the CCP’s brutal rule and offered prayers for Christians persecuted worldwide. Their participation also spoke to the deep longing for freedom of faith shared by countless Christians and called on the international community to pay closer attention to the harsh realities faced by Christians in China.
Christians from The Church of Almighty God (CAG) Attend a Public Meeting at Palazzo Lombardia in Italy
On November 21, at 11:00 a.m. local time, ACN—the initiator of the “Red Week” campaign—held a reflection meeting on religious freedom at the seat of the Regional Council of Lombardy in Italy. More than twenty CAG Christians from China also took part in the event.
Lombardy Regional Councilor Matteo Forte, Sandra Sarti, President of ACN Italy, and Massimiliano Tubani, Director of ACN Italy, delivered remarks at the meeting. Also speaking were Monsignor Ihab Alrachid, Proto-Deacon of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church in Greece, and Monsignor Théophile Naré, Bishop of the Kaya Diocese in Burkina Faso.
Standing Committee
Matteo Forte, Lombardy Regional Councilor and Chair of the Second Standing Committee, said: “Christians are the most persecuted faith group in the world. Every year, they make up the overwhelming majority of victims who suffer discrimination because of their religious beliefs. For believers, this is the ‘great multitude, which no man could number’ described in the Bible—martyrs throughout human history, united by what can be called a ‘unity of blood,’ a universal spirit of sacrifice that binds Christians of different backgrounds together. Through their loyalty to the gospel, they remain willing to offer even their own lives. They have become the greatest force restraining those who would abuse power to oppress others, and a crucial barrier against authoritarian ambitions that may appear unstoppable. They are living testimonies, just as the words given to the martyrs in the Book of Revelation declare: ‘Salvation to our God which sits on the throne, and to the Lamb’ (Revelation 7:10). Salvation belongs to God—not to any political project.”
Sandra Sarti, President of ACN Italy, said at the meeting: “Every person not only has the right to express their faith, but also the right to remain in their own country. Yet forced displacement has become extremely common. I believe the Chinese community present here today—The Church of Almighty God—also bears witness to this reality, because many of you were compelled to flee and come here precisely because of your faith.”
Massimiliano Tubani, Director of ACN Italy, also shared his view: “Today, 413 million Christians live in countries with a documented record of severe violations of religious freedom, and 220 million of them face direct persecution. In my opinion, the root cause behind these realities is ideology. It may be a communist social ideology, a political or religious form of Islamist ideology, or a nationalist or ethnocentric ideology….”
From their statements, it is clear that Christian communities around the world face an increasingly severe situation of persecution, and Christians in China—under communist rule—constitute one of the largest groups suffering such repression. Karl Marx, the founder of communism, wrote explicitly in the Introduction to A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right: “The criticism of religion is the prerequisite of all criticism.” He described religion as “the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions,” and concluded that “religion is the opium of the people,” while calling for the abolition of religion. As the direct heir of communist ideology, the Chinese Communist Party has suppressed and persecuted religious belief since the establishment of its regime, treating all religious activity as “feudal superstition” or “counterrevolutionary behavior.” Countless Bibles have been burned, and countless Christians have been killed or violently repressed. Some biblical scholars believe that the CCP corresponds to the “great dragon” prophesied in the Book of Revelation: “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9). In recent years, the CCP has intensified its efforts to eradicate religious belief, promoting the campaign of “Sinicization of religion,” subverting and eliminating all religions. Churches and crosses have been demolished on a large scale, nationwide networks have been deployed to track and arrest Christians, and many have received heavy prison sentences and harsh fines. Among all affected groups, Christians of The Church of Almighty God have suffered particularly severe persecution.
According to available information, The Church of Almighty God was established in 1991 and has become the fastest-growing house church movement in China—one that the CCP’s authoritarian regime has long sought to eradicate entirely. Based on incomplete statistics, by June 2025 at least 500,000 members had been arrested, 13,866 had received prison sentences, and at least 307 had died as a result of persecution. These figures reveal the systemic and high-intensity repression the CCP has carried out against the Church. Many Christians, driven to desperation by severe persecution, have been forced to flee overseas to seek asylum—only to find the CCP extending its reach across borders. According to Safeguard Defenders, as of April 2024 the CCP had established at least 102 “overseas police stations” in 53 countries, including 11 in Italy. These sites have been accused by international organizations of monitoring and coercing dissidents and religious believers abroad, including members of The Church of Almighty God. At the same time, CCP-controlled websites such as “Da Ai Wang” and the “Anti-Almighty God Alliance” have continued to publish the names, photos, and personal details of CAG members—especially those seeking asylum—placing them in even greater danger.
The Christians from The Church of Almighty God who attended this meeting had all been forced to flee to Italy due to persecution by the CCP. Many of them have still not been granted asylum and continue to face transnational repression from the CCP, along with many challenges in their daily lives. They called on the guests present to pay attention to the long-standing persecution of The Church of Almighty God in China and to the difficult situation of CAG believers who have sought refuge in Italy. After the meeting concluded, the organizers took photos with these Christians as a gesture of support and solidarity.
Christians from The Church of Almighty God Join Events at the Lombardy Regional Council Building and Rome’s Santa Maria in Trastevere
On November 19, 2025, the top floor of the Lombardy Regional Council building in Italy was illuminated in red, and the Palazzo Chigi in Rome was also lit up in red in response to the “Red Week,” expressing solidarity with global calls for religious freedom.
On that day, several Christians from The Church of Almighty God came to the site to display photos of believers who had died in recent years as a result of persecution by the CCP. They called on the Italian government and the public to recognize the CCP’s brutal persecution of CAG Christians and to grant necessary protection and asylum to those who have fled to Italy—so that they will not be deported back to China to face further persecution.
On November 22, several Christians from The Church of Almighty God came to the Basilica of Santa Maria in Trastevere in Rome to take part in the “Red Week” events. Wearing red scarves and holding signs, they called on more people to pay attention to persecuted Christians, urged an end to persecution, and called for the protection of freedom of belief.
Chinese Christians Join Rallies and Marches at St. Stephen’s Cathedral and Michaelerplatz in Vienna, Austria
On November 20, 2025, local time, St. Stephen’s Cathedral (Stephansdom) in Vienna, Austria, hosted a “Red Week” rally and march. Thousands of people joined the procession, including Chinese Christians who had fled to Austria after suffering persecution under the CCP. They took part to show solidarity with the hundreds of millions of Christians persecuted worldwide and to offer prayers for them.
A government official stated in her speech: “As a state, as a republic, we see it as our responsibility to do everything we can to protect churches and places of worship, and to oppose all forms of hatred—wherever and against whomever it appears in our society. We uphold this principle in Austria, and we actively advocate for it both at the European and international levels. As Christians, we have the responsibility to live out our faith in a kind yet clear way—not aggressively, but with courage and conviction.” Her remarks were met with enthusiastic applause from the audience.
Soon after, a procession of more than a thousand people set off from St. Stephen’s Cathedral and made its way through the city center to Michaelerplatz.
Some Christians from China also joined the march, holding red candles as they raised their voices and offered prayers for persecuted Christians around the world.
As the event drew to a close, the crowd in the square slowly dispersed, and the red lights illuminating the buildings began to fade. But the suffering of the tens of thousands of persecuted Christians around the world has not come to an end. We are called to open our hearts to their pain, to give them greater attention, support, and assistance—so that human rights and freedom of belief may one day become a lived reality.
