News

Church noting modern-day Christians who died for faith

Jubilee project to identify 21st century Christians who sacrificed their lives

Published: July 14, 2023   

By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service

CNS / courtesy Congregation of the Sisters of the Poor

Sister Annelvira Ossoli (left, in habit) is seen in Kinshasa, Congo, in 1985. She was among six members of her congregation who died of Ebola while caring for others suffering from the virus in Kikwit, Congo, in 1995.

CNS / courtesy Congregation of the Sisters of the Poor

Sister Annelvira Ossoli (left, in habit) is seen in Kinshasa, Congo, in 1985. She was among six members of her congregation who died of Ebola while caring for others suffering from the virus in Kikwit, Congo, in 1995.

VATICAN CITY — When St. John Paul II initiated preparations for the Holy Year 2000, he believed "the Church in every corner of the earth must remain anchored in the testimony of the martyrs and jealously guard their memory" in order to journey with faith, hope and confidence into the third millennium.

Martyrs "have proclaimed the Gospel by giving their lives for love," reflecting Christ's words on the cross, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do," the pope wrote in his 1998 bull officially proclaiming the jubilee.

To better recognize, honor and offer as inspiration the martyrs of the 20th century, St. John Paul established a special Vatican jubilee Commission for New Martyrs in 1996 to collect the names and stories of the latest witnesses of faith and charity.

The committee presented St. John Paul with eight volumes containing more than 13,400 names of men and women who gave their lives for Christ or in the service of the Gospel from Jan. 1, 1900 through 1999.

In view of the upcoming jubilee of 2025, Pope Francis wants to continue this historical research, starting with today's "witnesses of the faith'' of the 21st century. With a letter published July 5, he has established a new "Commission of the New Martyrs — Witnesses of the Faith" to draw up a new catalog of names.

"In a world where at times it seems that evil prevails, I am certain that the drafting of this catalog, also in the context of the now imminent jubilee, will help believers to read our times too in the paschal light, drawing from the treasury of such generous faithfulness to Christ the reasons for life and goodness," he wrote.

Much of what Pope Francis has created with the new initiative reflects the same project of his predecessor: producing as vast and broad a survey as possible with the help of the universal Church; including non-Catholic Christians who died to reflect what Pope Francis calls "the ecumenism of the blood" and St. John Paul called the "ecumenism of suffering''; and gathering representatives of churches and Christian communities from all over the world with the pope at Rome's Colosseum to commemorate these "new martyrs."

What is different is the new commission won't be temporary, but will now be part of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, said Father Boguslaw Turek, undersecretary of the dicastery.

The commission's first task for the Holy Year 2025 "is just the starting point" that will join the work done by the old commission and continue its work well into the future, he told Catholic News Service July 5.

"It's not a catalog of terrible events in the past, but of hope that leads to better horizons" today and tomorrow, said the priest of the Congregation of St. Michael the Archangel.

Something that might resurface, however, is the same confusion or disagreement over the term "new martyrs."

In fact, back in 2000, then-Archbishop José Saraiva Martins, the prefect of the then-Congregation for Sainthood Causes said, for the Catholic Church, the term martyr "in the proper, canonical sense," is for someone who died for Christ or for his Church and has already has been beatified or canonized.

The archbishop said "witness of the faith" was preferred for Catholics whose beatification process has not been completed or for other Christians who were killed because of their faith or promotion of Christian values.

Pope Francis said in his letter the new commission "is not intended to establish new criteria for the canonical ascertainment of martyrdom, but to continue the survey already underway of those who, to this day, continue to be killed simply because they are Christians."

Please read our Comments Policy before posting.