The Coliseum will go off to turn on the spotlights on persecuted Christians around the world and made ​​the object of discrimination. On Thursday 15 May at 19.45 the Community of Sant'Egidio and the Jewish Community of Rome, with the support of the mayor of Rome Capital, Ignazio Marino, will gather under the Flavian Amphitheatre along with the citizenship to express solidarity with the Christians that risk their lives to practise their own religion. The lights of the Colosseum will be turned off and in the same instant the torches will be raised up in memory of the victims of oppression. The whole city is invited to participate to say stop to all forms of fanaticism and extremism, to put a stop to any kind of persecution and to remember the souls of those that have been the victims of anti-Christian hatred. Indifference will not stop hostilities. Let us take action, in solidarity, to remind all persecuted Christians that they are not alone.

From Africa to the Middle East to more distant Asia, the appeals for peaceful coexistence are contradicted by continued incidents where violence erupts. The persecution against Christians, too often overlooked or hidden by a veil of indifference, crosses everywhere the boundaries between the religious denominations and must prompt solidarity intervention of all men and women of good will. The condemnation of violence and religious hatred, a real blasphemy of God's name, must be unanimous and shared, the hands of the persecutors must be stopped, the chain of crimes, which are a result of scorn and intolerance, must be broken.