Montreal, Canada: Candlelight Vigil Held to Commemorate Victims of the Chinese Communist Party’s 23-Year-Long Persecution

(Minghui.org) Falun Dafa practitioners held a candlelight vigil in Montreal’s Chinatown on July 19, 2022 to commemorate the practitioners who died in the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) 23-year-long persecution. They condemned the persecution and called for it to end. 

Practitioners held a candlelight vigil in Montreal’s Chinatown on July 19, 2022.

The event began with a rally and group exercise demonstration. Practitioner representatives spoke in Chinese, English, and French, and recounted the CCP’s decades of crimes against the Chinese people and the world. They called on the world to recognize the true nature of the Party and work together to stop the persecution.

A practitioner condemns the persecution and calls on the world’s people to help end it. 

The night fell and practitioners lit candles. The event was a calm and peaceful oasis near the crowded night market. When passersby stopped to ask what the event was about, practitioners explained that the vigil was held to tell people about the persecution and awaken their conscience. 

Candlelight vigil in Montreal on July 19, 2022 

American Soldier: Practitioners Fight Evil with Peace 

Kevin, an active-duty American soldier, was in Montreal on business. He said it was the first time he saw practitioners doing the exercises and he was drawn by the peaceful scene.

He said, “I think they are a very good group. There are Chinese, Westerners, Indians, old people, young people, and children. I think this exercise is great. There are so many people of different ethnic groups and backgrounds who practice. From this we can see that they follow Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance.”

He said that Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is a universal value. When judging whether something is right or wrong, he said he uses these universal standards.

“As a soldier, I see that they are fighting evil with peace,” he said. “I believe that the CCP is evil and should have perished long ago.”

Undergraduate Student: Practitioners Are Noble and Powerful

Santiago, a college student from Mexico, was touring Montreal and stopped to watch the candlelight vigil.

Candlelight vigil 

“This is the first time I’ve heard about Falun Dafa, and I think this is another example of the CCP’s persecution of people in every possible way,” he said. “I think it is noble for them (Falun Dafa practitioners) to support the people persecuted in China this way.” 

He said, “This is a noble and the most powerful way to make their voices heard across the world. I respect them. I will do some research and learn more about Falun Dafa.”

Quitting the CCP and Its Affiliated Organizations

People sign a petition calling for the persecution to end.

A young Chinese woman stood for a long time and watched the candlelight vigil. A practitioner said to her, “Please learn the truth about the persecution of Falun Dafa. You can listen and read more while in the free world, and judge what is right and what is wrong with your conscience.”

She agreed. The practitioner asked her whether she quit her membership in the CCP and its organizations. She said she joined only the Communist Young Pioneers. The practitioner explained that she should renounce it so she wouldn’t be implicated for the CCP’s crimes. 

After listening to the practitioner’s explanation, the woman readily agreed and quit her membership in the CCP. 

Background: What Is Falun Dafa and Why Is the CCP Persecuting It?

Falun Dafa (also known as Falun Gong) was first introduced to the public by Mr. Li Hongzhi in Changchun, China, in 1992. The spiritual discipline is now practiced in over 100 countries and regions worldwide. Millions of people who have embraced the teachings, which are based on the principles of Truthfulness, Compassion, and Forbearance, and have learned the five exercises, have experienced improved health and well-being.

Jiang Zemin, former head of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), perceived the spiritual discipline’s growing popularity as a threat to the CCP’s atheistic ideology and on July 20, 1999, he issued an order to eradicate the practice.

Under Jiang’s personal direction, the CCP established the 610 Office, an extralegal security organization with the power to override the police and judicial systems and whose sole function is to carry out the persecution of Falun Dafa.

Minghui.org has confirmed the deaths of thousands of practitioners as a result of the persecution over the past 23 years. The actual number is believed to be much higher. Countless practitioners have been imprisoned and tortured for their faith.

There is concrete evidence that the CCP sanctions the harvesting of organs from detained practitioners, who are murdered to supply China’s organ transplant industry.