Aid to the Church in Need marked Red Wednesday Nov. 15, drawing attention to the worldwide plight of Christians suffering as religious persecution and intimidation of religious minorities becomes a daily occurrence in Canadian cities.

Forced conversions, lost childhoods, years of hiding, living in limbo — the persecution Christians face around the world was given specific, concrete shape by the testimony of survivors at the annual Red Wednesday vespers in Toronto’s St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica.

Wearing the red of martyrs, St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica once again stood up for persecuted Christians — one of dozens of cathedrals around the world illuminated for Red Wednesday.

The persecution of Christians around the world won’t stop for the pandemic, Aid To The Church In Need Canada said as cathedrals were bathed in red light in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal for Red Wednesday.

On a night dedicated to modern martyrs, Cardinal Thomas Collins urged Christians to “thank God for the gift of martyrs” and to “imitate them.”

Just like Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona and over 1,300 local churches and schools in the Philippines, Toronto’s St. Michael’s Cathedral was bathed in red light on Wednesday, Nov. 21 in solidarity with Christians around the world who have lost their homes, their families and even their lives to violence and persecution.