The names of 1,600 new martyrs of the 21st century
Pope Leo XIV will lead the ecumenical celebration in the Vatican next Sunday for the witnesses to the faith of the last 25 years. One of a kind during Jubilee, the event will mark the work of the Commission established by Pope Francis in 2023. The list of martyrs includes 357 from Asia and Oceania, who died since 2000 to the present. For Archbishop Fabene, this is “a sign of hope”. At least 24 delegates from Churches and Christian Communions will be present.
Vatican City (AsiaNews) – An ecumenical celebration will be held this Sunday, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, in the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls, Rome, to commemorate the martyrs and witnesses to the faith of the 21st century. Led by Pope Leo XIV, it will include representatives from various Churches and Christian Communions.
A press conference was held this morning in the Holy See Press Office to highlight the event’s importance, a repeat of the meetings held during the Jubilee of 2000 with Saint John Paul II. At that time, a commission collected testimonies of martyrdom in the 20th century.
In 2023 Pope Francis set up the Commission for New Martyrs – Witnesses to the Faith at the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to continue the previous work by looking back over the first quarter of this century.
For Archbishop Fabio Fabene, who chairs the Commission, the aim was “to record for our time all Christians who shed their blood for the love of Christ and to bear witness to his Gospel,” as well as update the list of martyrs prepared under Pope John Paul II ahead of this year’s Jubilee.
The 11-member Commission includes priests, men and women religious, and lay people selected from different continents. For their research, they relied on "the contribution of particular Churches, religious institutes, and many other ecclesial entities," Archbishop Fabene said.
Paying particular attention to the martyrs offers "a sign of hope" for "all Christian confessions,” in the spirit of the "ecumenism of blood," as John Paul II described it, which is realised in "Christians who have given their lives."
"The heart of this work is memory,” is how Prof Andrea Riccardi, vice president of the Commission for New Martyrs, describes the activities carried out over the past two years.
A historian, Riccardi spoke after Holy See Press Office director Matteo Bruni, presenting the data emerging from the research on martyrdom over the last quarter of a century. Compared to the previous study, the first major difference is “in the geography of witnesses to the faith".
Some 304 martyrs have been identified in the Americas. "Many were impacted by organised crime organisations, drug trafficking, deforestation, and the exploitation of natural resources," Prof Riccardi explained. By contrast, at 43, Europe has a "low number,” he noted. However, it is important to add that 110 European Christians, "almost always religious missionaries, fidei donum, or volunteers, died on mission outside Europe."
The Middle East and North Africa had 277 witnesses. “This reminds us of the history of recent decades, of the persecution of Christians in the Middle East, in Iraq." The group includes many "non-Catholics," due to their "condition of communion" with Eastern Christians.
Prof Riccardi reported 357 "fallen” in Asia and Oceania. “The highest number of deaths among Christians at prayer is striking, particularly in the attacks on three different churches in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 21 April 2019” during Easter celebrations, which claimed more than 250 lives.
"It should be noted that the Diocese of Colombo has sent a great deal of material,” and “has been very active in commemorating this tragedy that shook it," he said.
Africa, however, is the continent with the highest number of Christian deaths with 643 martyrs recorded by the Commission.
Most were killed in "jihadist attacks, but also in ethno-political attacks, which also target missionaries," Prof Riccardi explained. The main causes of death are terrorism, jihadist attacks, and the actions of criminal gangs and organised crime groups.
The total number of martyrs killed worldwide between 2000 and 2025 stands at 1,624, but this represents the "tip of the iceberg" of the problem. Riccardi noted the difficulties that the Commission for New Martyrs - Witnesses to the Faith faced in its research, which is slated to continue beyond 2025.
This was primarily due to the impossibility of collecting reliable data in "remote areas" of Africa, and elsewhere. Yet, despite the obstacles, it is sadly clear that "Christians continue to die," he lamented.
Indeed, many martyrs remain unrecognised, but their stories are nonetheless "touching" and "emblematic of [. . .] tormented areas in today’s world," he said. "One is about the young Chaldean priest, Fr Ragheed Ganni, killed in Mosul (Iraq) in 2007 with three deacons.”
“Speaking at a Eucharistic conference in Bari, the clergyman said: ‘I am full of fear, but when I hold the Eucharist in my hand [. . .] I feel its strength within me. This makes us resist and hope.’”
Fr Marco Gnavi, secretary of the Commission of the New Martyrs, explained that the celebration will be based on the Liturgy of the Word, presided over by Pope Leo XIV, centred on the Gospel of the Beatitudes.
So far, 24 official delegates from Churches and Christian Communions have confirmed their presence, including Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, head of external relations at the Moscow Patriarchate.
In addition to the religious representatives, men and women religious, lay people, and pastors will be present at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls next Sunday to take part in what Archbishop Fabio Fabene, during his address at today's conference, called the "only ecumenical celebration in Rome during the entire Jubilee Year.”
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01/10/2017 13:43
