Rome's Trevi Fountain to be dyed red to recognize modern-day martyrs

One of Rome's most famous tourist attractions will be dyed red later this month to recognize all the Christians whose lives have been taken because of their faith.

According to the Catholic News Agency, the Trevi Fountain will bear the red color on April 29, an initiative organized by Aid to the Church in Need, in order to "call attention to the drama of anti-Christian persecution."

The aid group, said the report, wants to stir a concrete and long-lasting reaction so people of this age can go back to "fully enjoying their natural right to religious freedom." They want the violation of people's -- especially Christians' -- right to religious freedom to "become the central issue of the public debate."

The initiative is timely, considering the increase in the number of Christians being targeted worldwide. In a report by the World Watch Monitor covering the period between November 2014 and October 2015, more than 4,000 Christians were killed and almost 200 churches were destroyed in Nigeria alone because of faith-based reasons. In Maiduguri in Borno State, more than 5,500 people -- a majority suspected to be Christians -- were killed by Boko Haram. Last month in Pakistan, a bomb that was meant for Christians blew up at a park, also killing many Muslims. A church-run elderly home in Yemen was attacked in March with the nuns killed save for one. Persons have been assaulted and killed simply because they are Christians. The stories seem endless, with droves of internally displaced people, refugees, and asylum-seekers telling of what they have experienced and witnessed.

Pope Francis, on April 7, called these modern-day martyrs "the lifeblood of the Church."

"It is the witness of our martyrs of today – so many! – chased out of their homeland, driven away, having their throats cut, persecuted: they have the courage to confess Jesus even to the point of death," the pope said, as quoted by CNA.

Antoine Audo, the Chaldean Catholic Bishop of Aleppo in Syria, and Cardinal Mauro Piacenza, the international president of Aid the Church in Need, will be the speakers at the event. Caritas Italy, Communion and Liberation, the Christian Workers Movement, the Focolare Movement, pro-life groups, and other organizations have reportedly joined the project.