Although the initial goal was to aid refugees who fled or were expelled from Eastern Europe in the wake of the Second World War, many of them Catholic,[2] in 1952 the organisation began to work to help persecuted Christians behind the Iron Curtain.
It traces its roots to Brazil in 2015, when the local ACN office had the Christ the Redeemer monument lit in red to mark the persecution of Christians in Iraq.
[11] Pope Francis specifically thanked[12] Polish Catholics for their participation in Red Week events in November 2022, and UK Prime-Minister Rishi Sunak mentioned the event in Parliament in 2023, calling it "an important moment to demonstrate our solidarity with Christians and all those persecuted around the world for their religion or belief”, before adding: “I’m pleased that today we will light up Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office buildings in the UK in red in support”.
Celebrating the date on a chosen Wednesday, rather than marking the entire Red Week, has occurred mostly in English speaking countries with ACN offices, including the United Kingdom,[16] Canada,[17] and Australia,[18] but also in others, such as the Philippines.
[19] In the UK the date has become politically significant, with the Anglican bishop of Truro, Philip Mounstephen, recommending its adoption by the Government, in his report on the reform of the Foreign Office and its handling of the issue of persecution of Christians.
[20] In 2023, prime-minister Rishi Sunak mentioned Red Wednesday while answering questions in Parliament, describing it as "an important moment to demonstrate our solidarity with Christians and all those persecuted around the world for their religion or belief".
[16] The date has taken on an ecumenical dimension in the UK, having received backing by the aforementioned Anglican Bishop of Truro, as well as the Coptic Orthodox Archbishop Angaelos of London[21] In 2023 the UK national office of ACN established the first "Courage to be a Christian" award, which was given to Margaret and Dominic Attah,[22] from Nigeria, in representation of the scores of victims of the Pentecost Sunday church attack in Owo, Ondo State, Nigeria, which took place on 5 June.
[27] In 2021 Die Zeit published an article which made known the existence of a letter from 2010 indicating that Werenfried van Straaten was accused of committing sexual assault in 1973 against a 20-year-old woman working for the charity.
[28][29] In a statement consisting of questions and answers, the charity responded to the disclosure and noted that "ACN deeply regrets the serious allegations and condemns any kind of behavior of which Father van Straaten has been accused in the article.