It was the third year that Toronto’s St. Michael’s Cathedral was lit up for Red Wednesday, an annual global event in remembrance of Christians who have died or are being persecuted for their faith.

"Even in times of a pandemic, we need to be reminded that anti-religious violence, and especially the persecution of Christians, is still as present as it was last year,” ACN-Canada national director Marie Claude Lalonde said in a release.

The German-based pontifical foundation, which supports Christians in 140 countries, cites research by the Dutch foundation Open Doors, estimating 260 million Christians world-wide were persecuted for their faith in 2019.

In Ottawa the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops marked Red Wednesday with red lights at its headquarters.

This year the global event was marked with online conferences and prayer vigils in countries around the world. In the Philippines, Red Wednesday was dedicated to the fight against COVID-19. Internationally, ACN has pledged to raise five million Euros ($7.8 million Cdn) to support Church efforts to fight the virus.