Vatican to host conference on 21st-century martyrs who died defending justice
A conference at the Augustinianum in Rome on September 15 will focus on some 1,700 people documented as having died in the 21st century defending truth, justice and human dignity. It ends the next day with a papal audience
The Vatican will host a conference on September 15 titled "The 21st Century: A New Age of Martyrs?" at the Augustinianum in Rome. It will close the following day with a papal audience.
The event was announced at a news conference on September 10. Taking part were Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints; Archbishop Fabio Fabene, secretary of the dicastery and president of the Commission for New Martyrs - Witnesses of the Faith; and Andrea Riccardi, founder of the Community of Sant'Egidio and vice president of the commission.
The conference will focus on the new martyrs of the 21st century, a documented group of roughly 1,700 people who died defending truth, justice and human dignity in a range of settings. The initiative was first conceived by Pope John Paul II and remains ecumenically relevant today.
Holiness beyond formal canonizations
Semeraro said that "the grace of holiness in the Church is signified, but not exhausted, in canonizations." Citing Pope Benedict XVI, he said that "to suffer with the other and for others; to suffer for the sake of truth and justice; to suffer out of love and in order to become a person who truly loves, are fundamental elements of humanity."
Semeraro asked whether people today are able to live those values in their own circumstances. He said there is an urgent need for witnesses, that is, martyrs, who have given themselves completely "to show us the way in our daily life."
Types of new martyrs in the 21st century
Those recognized as new martyrs fall into several categories. They include people who fought drug trafficking and deforestation and lost their lives doing so. They also include those who paid "with their blood to protect entire communities from the exploitation of natural resources, which devastate ecosystems and make them uninhabitable."
The list also covers people who reported crimes or corruption for the good of their community or an entire country and were never forgiven for it. That category includes journalists, lawyers, social activists and ordinary citizens who spoke out against systems of injustice, often at the cost of their lives.
Religious persecution and the defense of fundamental rights
The conference places these new martyrs within a wider pattern of religious persecution and of repression of rights defenders in the 21st century. The phenomenon is not limited to violence against practicing Christians. It also covers everyone who, acting out of religious conviction or conscience, defended dignity, freedom and justice against powers that sought to silence them.
Ecumenical significance
Semeraro stressed the "ecumenical significance of this initiative." He said the sacrifice of the new martyrs does not belong to the Catholic Church alone, but reaches into many Christian traditions and includes people of good will who died for their convictions.
