On the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Pope Leo XIV will preside over a moving ecumenical prayer service to honor the countless Christians of the 21st century who have given their lives for Christ. This ceremony, known as the “Ecumenical Commemoration of Martyrs and Witnesses of the Faith of the Twenty-first Century,” will take place on Sunday, September 14, at the Papal Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, according to Vatican News.
Honoring the Blood of the Martyrs
The gathering is being organized by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and its Commission of New Martyrs – Witnesses to the Faith, established by Pope Francis in 2023 “to identify the Witnesses of the Faith in this first quarter century and to continue it into the future” (Vatican News). Cardinal Kurt Koch, prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, emphasized that this commemoration “will give visible expression to the conviction that the Church is already one in the blood of her martyrs.”
Archbishop Fabio Fabene, President of the Commission, explained that the research and documentation of these martyrs has embraced “all Christian denominations, since the vitality of baptism unites all Christians who gave their lives,” realizing what St. John Paul II famously called the “ecumenism of blood” (Vatican News). Archbishop Fabene expressed Pope Leo’s hope that “the blood of these martyrs will be ‘a seed of peace, reconciliation, fraternity, and love.’”
The Global Witness of Faith
Professor Andrea Riccardi, Vice-President of the Commission, described the “geography” of these modern martyrs. He pointed to Christians killed by organized crime in the Americas, missionaries martyred in Europe and abroad, persecuted Christians of the Middle East and North Africa, and faithful who died while at prayer in Asia, including the victims of the 2019 Easter bombings in Sri Lanka. He noted that sub-Saharan Africa is now the continent “where Christians die most,” citing jihadist attacks and ethnic-political violence (Vatican News).
“Christians continue to die throughout the world,” Riccardi said. “The manner of their lives and deaths changes, but they continue to die as witnesses of the Gospel – passionate for God and their brothers and sisters, authentic servants of humanity, free communicators of the faith.”
Monsignor Marco Gnavi, Secretary of the Commission, explained that the commemoration will take the form of a Liturgy of the Word with 24 representatives of Christian denominations joining Pope Leo. “This liturgy will allow the Word of God to speak and broaden our memory to include that of other Christians of different confessions,” he said, adding that the event continues the tradition of Pope St. John Paul II’s Great Jubilee celebration at the Colosseum in 2000 (Vatican News).
Msgr. Gnavi called this witness “a great encouragement toward unity – among ourselves and within the whole human family we long for in love.”
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