Hungary Turns Red For Persecuted Christians

By Stefan J. Bos, Special Correspondent Worthy News

(Worthy News) – Hungary’s government says landmarks in Budapest lit up in red to remember persecuted Christians who it claims to form the world’s most suffering faith community. “The initiative “Red Wednesday” was about commemorating persecuted Christians around the world,” said Tristan Azbej, Hungary’s state secretary for assisting persecuted Christians.

“Dozens of people are killed each day for their Christian faith, and this day was to raise awareness of the issue,” he added in a statement. However, “Whenever Christians are killed because of their faith, it often leaves the public cold,” the minister complained. “This is why the international initiative organized by [Catholic charity] Aid to the Church in Need (ACN)is so important,” he added.

Azbej estimates that some 3,000 Christians are killed annually because of their faith in Christ. “Christianity is currently the most persecuted religion in the world,” the state secretary stressed. Among the historic monuments lit up were Budapest’s Elizabeth Bridge, the statue of St. Gellért, the Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Orthodox Cathedral of the Mother of God, the Reformed Church in Szilágyi Dezső Square, and the Lutheran Church of Budavár.

Globally, landmark buildings turning scarlet for Red Wednesday also included the Palace of Westminster and Westminster Abbey in London, the Colosseum in Rome, the Basilica of the Sacred Heart of Mary in Washington, DC, and many other buildings in world capitals.

In the Philippines, a heavily Catholic nation, this year’s “Red Wednesday” was also dedicated to praying for a country suffering from the coronavirus pandemic and related government measures. “Undeniably, we live in a difficult time wherein hope seems so far away…faith may weaken…and love hard to be found,” explained Archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of ACN Philippines.

Villegas stressed that the current health crisis “forced on us a new face of suffering.” He said that “lockdowns have grievously affected poverty-stricken communities. Infected by the virus now count to millions. And it continues to claim lives with impunity.”

Tens of thousands have been detained in the Philippines this year for breaking the country’s strict coronavirus lockdown measures.

However, the archbishop explained that the color red also represents the love that is courage, patient endurance, and compassion. “It is the courage of our front liners, the patient endurance of our Covid survivors, and above all the compassion of God made manifest
through the Church and His people.”

Authorities say more than 8,000 people have died in the Philippines of COVID-19 related causes in a population of nearly 110 million people.

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