THE ANNUAL WEEK OF WITNESS - 15 TO 22 NOVEMBER 2026

As Irish Catholics, we live in a country where the right to practice our faith is largely taken for granted. We can gather for Mass on Sunday without fear of a bomb or a mob. We can wear a crucifix, teach the faith to our children, and speak of Christ in public life, however contested that space sometimes feels. That freedom is a gift. It is also a responsibility.

The latest Religious Freedom in the World Report from Aid to the Church in Need, covering the period from January 2023 to December 2024, makes the scale of the opposite reality painfully clear. Almost 5.4 billion people — two-thirds of humanity, or 64.7% of the world’s population — live in countries where serious or very serious violations of religious freedom take place.

Of the 196 countries surveyed, 62 show grave violations: 24 classified as places of persecution and 38 as places of discrimination. Only two countries showed any material improvement. Authoritarian governments are the principal drivers of this repression. Islamist extremism is the main cause of persecution in 15 countries and contributes to discrimination in a further ten. Irish generosity has long been part of that response. It is a practical expression of the same solidarity that Red Wednesday seeks to make visible. The Week of Witness asks something of each of us that is within reach.

ACN sent resources to every parish in the country to mark Red Wednesday. You can help by playing your part: Wear red on Red Wednesday. Light a candle or illuminate a church. Pray deliberately for those who suffer for the name of Christ. Support the projects that keep the faith alive in the places where it is most under threat. Speak, when opportunity arises, of the reality that so many prefer not to see.

 These are small acts. In the economy of the Church, they are not insignificant. They tell our brothers and sisters who live under the shadow of the cross that they are not alone, and they remind us that the freedom we enjoy is meant to be used in the service of those who do not share it.

The blood of the martyrs, Tertullian wrote, is the seed of the Church. In our own time that seed continues to be sown.

One inspiring example of a Christian who has suffered for his faith is Catholic priest Ernest Simoni. He was sentenced to death twice for his faith in Jesus Christ, and spent 28 years in community labour camps in Albania - but lived to tell the tale. Here, the now Cardinal Simoni shares his remarkable story of faith and forgiveness on his journey.