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The Palace of Westminster will be lit up red on Wednesday evening to remember those persecuted for their beliefs.
The move is part of the Red Wednesday campaign by Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) "to honour those who have suffered because of their religion".
A Parliamentary spokesman told Christian Today "parliament fully endorses the aims of this important campaign" and the lighting of the Palace was "in order to demonstrate Parliament's support". The move announced on Monday means the Palace – which contains the UK's two Houses of Parliament – will join Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral and dozens of other churches, synagogues and mosques being lit up red on Wednesday.
The campaign aims to highlight the fact that current levels of religious persecution have never been so widespread or severe.
Up to 76 per cent of the world's population live in countries with high or very high levels on restrictions on religious freedom, according to the US State Department. The latest annual International Religious Freedom Report found a quarter of all countries, making up three-quarters of the global population, curtail religious liberty through "government policies or the hostile acts of individuals, organizations, or societal groups."
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It went on to find roughly a quarter of countries have blasphemy laws of some form and more than one in 10 penalise those abandoning or changing their religion.
The US religious freedom ambassador, David Saperstein, said: "The existence of these laws has been used by governments in too many cases to intimidate, repress religious minorities, and governments have too often failed to take appropriate steps to prevent societal violence sparked by accusations of blasphemy and apostasy."
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As well as cut backs on wider religious freedoms, the Open Doors annual World Watch report this year found that current persecution against Christians was worse than it had ever been in history.
"The persecution of Christians is getting worse, in every region in which we work – and it's getting worse fast," said Lisa Pearce, the charity's CEO.
"The trend is stark, as are the consequences for real people – we should not expect that to change unless we are part of changing the situation."
Recent debates in Parliament have highlighted MPs' concern over religious persecution. Last week Chris Green MP warned Christianity is in danger of being eradicated in the Middle East. "There were thought to be 1.5 million Christians in Iraq before the invasion in 2003, however that number is now reported to have fallen to 230,000," Green, the Conservative MP for Bolton West, told MPs.
"Whilst many people have been persecuted and have fled from the region, this figure shows the targeted nature of the persecution."
The Red Wednesday campaign comes the day before ACN's report into religious freedom is launched in Parliament.
