Pope Francis launches effort to honor modern-day Christian martyrs from all denominations

By Leonardo Blair, Senior Reporter Wednesday, July 05, 2023

Pope Francis has commissioned a new working group in the Vatican's department of saint-making, known as the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, to identify Christians from all denominations worldwide who have been killed for their faith since 2000.

In a letter Tuesday, the pontiff said the effort seeks to honor these martyrs at the upcoming Jubilee of 2025.

"In view of the forthcoming Jubilee of 2025, which will see us gathered as 'Pilgrims of Hope', I have established at the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints the 'Commission of the New Martyrs - Witnesses of the Faith', to draw up a Catalogue of all those who have shed their blood to confess Christ and bear witness to His Gospel," Pope Francis said.

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The Jubilee "is a special year of grace, in which the Catholic Church offers the faithful the possibility of asking for a plenary indulgence, that is, the remission of sins for themselves or for deceased relatives," according to the website Jubilee 2025. The celebration generally lasts for a year, starting just before Christmas and finishing some 12 days after Christmas or at the completion of the Epiphany, the following year.

In his letter, Pope Francis noted that martyrs today "are more numerous in our time than in the first centuries."

"They are bishops, priests, consecrated men and women, lay people and families, who in the different countries of the world, with the gift of their lives, have offered the supreme proof of charity," he said.

In his letter, Francis explained that the stories of modern-day martyrs in the last quarter century that he expects to investigate and record with his new project will build on past research in the area and "stand as a treasure cherished by the Christian community."

"It is therefore a matter of continuing historical research in order to gather the testimonies of life, up to the shedding of blood, of these sisters and brothers of ours, so that their memory can stand as a treasure cherished by the Christian community," he said. "The research will concern not only the Catholic Church but will extend to all Christian denominations. Even in our times, in which we are witnessing a change of epoch, Christians continue to show, in contexts of great risk, the vitality of Baptism that unites us."

According to the letter, many modern-day martyrs were killed for various reasons: trying to worship Jesus in places hostile to Christianity or for helping the poor and others on the margins of society.

"A not insignificant number, indeed, are those who, despite being aware of the dangers they face, manifest their faith, or participate in the Sunday Eucharist. Others are killed in the effort to assist in charity the lives of the poor, in caring for those rejected by society, in cherishing and promoting the gift of peace and the power of forgiveness," he wrote.

"Still others are silent victims, as individuals or in groups, of the upheavals of history. To all of them we owe a great debt, and we cannot forget them," Pope Francis added. "The work of the Commission will make it possible to place side by side with the martyrs, officially recognized by the Church, the documented testimonies — and there are many — of these brothers and sisters of ours, within a vast panorama in which the single voice of the martyria of Christians resounds."