CBCP to submit list of persecuted Catholics to Vatican

MANILA, Philippines — The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has asked dioceses and other commissions to gather data on persecuted Catholics and Christians, which will be submitted to Rome for the 2025 Jubilee.

“For the 2025 Jubilee, Pope Francis has tasked this commission to compile a list of those who have shed their blood from 2000 to the present day due to violent opposition to the good brought by the Gospel, or even just because they were Christians. And the list is not limited only to Catholics but to all Christian confessions,” CBCP secretary general Monsignor Bernardo Pantin said during the Red Wednesday mass at the Manila Cathedral.

Pope Francis recently established a “Commission of New Martyrs – Witnesses of the Faith” in the Dicastery for the Causes of the Saints.

Red Wednesday is an initiative launched in 2015 by Aid to the Church in Need, a Catholic charity dedicated to supporting the suffering and persecuted Christians around the world.

In the Philippines, several cathedrals and parish churches were lit in red and masses were offered to pray for more than 250 million Christians “who courageously bear the cross for their faith in Jesus Christ.”