Speaking on November 14 to participants at a conference on martyrdom, Pope Francis said that the Church should recognise all those who die for Christ, including those who are not Catholic. The Pope pointed to the Orthodox martyrs of Libya: “They were martyrs, and the Church venerates them as her own martyrs,” he said. “With Read more
Posts Tagged ‘martyrdom’
New saints including Blessed Pope Paul VI to be canonised
Thursday, March 8th, 2018
Blessed Pope Paul VI will be canonised a saint in October. The ceremony will take place at the end of the Synod of Bishops on youth and discernment, Cardinal Pietro Parolin says. The cardinals and bishops who are members of the Congregation for Saints’ Causes have voted to recognise a miracle where Blessed Paul healed Read more
Charles de Foucauld — martyr without an executioner
Tuesday, December 6th, 2016
Charles de Foucauld is the figure who teaches Catholics about the true nature of Christian martyrdom, too often distorted into a “persecutionism” ideology. Brother Michael Davide Semeraro, a Benedictine monk and spiritual teacher, looks at the experience of the “Little Brother” and his legacy, from an original perspective, 100 years on from his death. As Read more
Coptic Christians — ‘people of the Cross’
Friday, March 27th, 2015
The murder of twenty one Christians by Islamic State in Libya brought condemnation from around the world. Their murder puts them in a long history of persecution of the Coptic Church. Martyrdom was not new to them or their people. For nearly two thousand years, their Church had prided itself as being the Church of Read more
Archbishop Romero — trusted news source
Monday, March 23rd, 2015
While he was first and foremost a faithful shepherd and a martyr for the faith, a fact now confirmed by the Vatican, Archbishop Oscar Romero was also the most trusted source of news in war-torn El Salvador up until the day he was assassinated on March 24, 1980. In a country where the major media Read more
New versions of martyrdom
Friday, April 11th, 2014
As I have mentioned in a previous posting, there are many different sorts of martyrdom–in the broad sense of bearing witness, at a high or ultimate cost, to an awkward truth or passionately embraced cause. Independence movements, environmental campaigns, investigative journalism, humanitarian missions to war zones. They all draw inspiration from sons and daughters who perished in Read more
Christians suffering mass martyrdom, says Archbishop of Canterbury
Friday, September 27th, 2013
The Archbishop of Canterbury said Christians across parts of the Muslim world are being deliberately attacked because of their faith. The Most Rev Justin Welby said that there had been more than 80 Christian “martyrs” in the last few days alone. He was speaking about the bombing of All Saints Anglican church in Peshawar, Pakistan, Read more