A new Vatican commission has recorded the deaths of more than 1700 martyrs in the 21st century, including Christians from other denominations, with between 100 and 150 new names added this year. Source: Crux.
Established in 2023 by Pope Francis, the Commission for New Martyrs and Witnesses of the Faith is an offshoot from the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.
The Commission has arranged a two-day international congress this week called “The 21st Century, a New Age of Martyrs?”
The conference speakers include Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, who will talk about the peaceful role of Christians in the Holy Land.
Speaking at a press conference last week ahead of the congress Fabio Fabene, secretary of the dicastery and president of the commission, said the commission “continues to collect notifications and information about Christians who died because of the Gospel in all parts of the world”.
Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the dicastery, who was also at the press conference, said that not all the martyrs in the catalogue of names that have been recorded will necessarily be canonised.
“The grace of holiness in the Church is manifested – though not limited to – in canonisations,” Cardinal Semeraro said.
“Obviously, it is not ruled out, that for some of those listed in the catalogue, the procedures for beatification and canonisation may begin, provided the necessary conditions are met,” he added.
Cardinal Semararo’s comments suggested that the addition of 21 Coptic Christian martyrs to the Roman Martyrology by Pope Francis in 2023 is a sign of things to come, as the commission recognises the “common martyrology” among the baptised and those from different Christian denominations.
The commission’s work compiling a catalogue of those who “have shed their blood for confessing Christ and bearing witness to the Gospel” is not limited to Catholics.
Upon the establishment of the commission, Cardinal Semararo pointed out, Francis said the work “will allow the martyrs, officially recognised by the Church, to stand alongside the documented testimonies – and there are many – of these brothers and sisters of ours, within a vast panorama in which the single voice of Christian martyrdom resounds.”
Historian Andrea Riccardi, vice-president of the Commission, said that the 21st century is marked by martyrdom.
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