Eighty per cent of all acts of religious persecution around the world today are being committed against Christians, Archbishop Eamon Martin said, responding to a new report from Aid to the Church in Need Ireland.

He was speaking at a special prayer service at Armagh Cathedral to remember those who have died for their faith.  The event marked Red Wednesday, the highpoint of a special ‘Week of Witness’ that invites Christians across Ireland to stand in solidarity with persecuted Christians and other people of faith across the world.

Archbishop Martin said the 2019 Aid to the Church in Need Report ‘Persecuted and Forgotten’ “shockingly reminds us that martyrdom is not just a phenomenon of the past but continues, and is even increasing, in today’s world”. He continued: “Eighty per cent of all acts of religious persecution around the world today are being committed against Christians; 245 million Christians in more than 95 countries are facing extreme persecution for their faith.  We remember them all in prayer at this time”.