“No one can silence the voice or erase the love of the martyrs,” says Pope
ACN International executive president Regina Lynch says the organisation is proud to support those who are persecuted or even make the ultimate sacrifice for their faith.
Pope Leo XIV celebrated the witness of Christian martyrs on Sunday, 14 September, at an ecumenical event in Rome, during the presentation of a list of over 1,600 people who were killed for their faith over the past 25 years.
The list was compiled at the request of Pope Francis by Vatican officials working together with representatives of other Churches, and it contains the names of all Christians who were killed on account of their faith, not just Catholics. Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) supported this process as part of its charisma.
The Vatican event took place on the feast of the Exaltation of the Most Holy Cross, with Pope Leo reminding those present that “many brothers and sisters, even today, carry the same cross as our Lord on account of their witness to the faith in difficult situations and hostile contexts: like him, they are persecuted, condemned and killed”.
“They are women and men, religious, lay people and priests, who pay with their lives for their fidelity to the Gospel, their commitment to justice, their battle for religious freedom where it is still being violated, and their solidarity with the most disadvantaged. According to the world’s standards, they have been ‘defeated’. In truth, as the Book of Wisdom tells us: ‘though in the sight of others they were punished, their hope is full of immortality’,” said Pope Leo.
The list produced by the Vatican contains the names of 1,624 people who were killed for their faith, but the real number could in fact be higher. Even those who cannot be named have left their mark, Pope Leo explained. “During this Jubilee Year, we celebrate the hope of these courageous witnesses of the faith. It is a hope filled with immortality because their martyrdom continues to spread the Gospel in a world marked by hatred, violence and war; it is a hope filled with immortality because, even though they have been killed in body, no one can silence their voice or erase the love they have shown; it is a hope filled with immortality because their witness lives on as a prophecy of the victory of good over evil.”
Pope Leo explained that unfortunately the end of the great dictatorships of the twentieth century did not bring about the respite from persecution that many had hoped. “On the contrary, in some parts of the world it has increased,” he said.
The commemoration was attended by Regina Lynch, executive president of ACN International. “Every day people are prepared to pay the ultimate price in order to defend what Christ has taught us, to love one another. At ACN we are very proud to support and recognize these martyrs, and to be close to those people today who suffer discrimination or persecution, or who even give up their lives in order to defend their faith,” she commented.
ACN International’s director of projects, Marco Mencaglia, added that “the witness of the martyrs is a witness of life. Thousands of people on all continents, religious, young people, entire families that surrender their lives for their faith, for love of their neighbour and of God. The testimonies of these people who want to give themselves fully for their faith are the life of the Church.”
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