Martyrs Archives

Pope recalls Iraqi martyrs, saying violence incompatible with religion

Mar 5, 2021

The deaths of those martyred in the Syro-Catholic Cathedral of Our Lady of Salvation on Oct. 31, 2010, Francis said during a meeting with the bishops, religious, and catechists in Baghdad, “are a powerful reminder that inciting war, hateful attitudes, violence or the shedding of blood are incompatible with authentic religious teachings.”

By Inés San Martín

Pope remembers Coptic Christians martyred by ISIS

Feb 15, 2021

On the sixth anniversary of the martyrdom of the 21 Coptic men by ISIS terrorist in a Libyan beach, Pope Francis released a heartfelt video praying for them.

By Inés San Martín

El Salvador church hails U.S. Catholic women as models of solidarity

Dec 3, 2020

In one of the regions of El Salvador most battered in a bloody war funded by American dollars, four Catholic women from the U.S. were hailed as examples of solidarity, of Christian faith and martyrdom, as Salvadorans remembered them Dec. 2, the 40th anniversary of their assassination.

By Rhina Guidos

Franciscan-led team spearheads fight against mines in Honduran province

Feb 16, 2020

In the remote rural swathe known as the Wild West of Honduras, said to be a bandits’ hideout where it is “easy to get in, tough to get out,” the Church finds itself once again at the forefront of a movement for justice.

By Catholic News Service

Why Catholicism’s two traumas of the 2010s didn’t draw the same attention

Dec 29, 2019

Global Christianity, Catholicism very much included, experienced two traumas over the last decade that are both global in scope and historic in their consequences.

By John L. Allen Jr.

Church’s first martyr reveals true meaning of Christmas, Pope says

Dec 26, 2019

“In the joyous climate of Christmas, the memory of the first Christ killed for the faith could appear out of place,” Pope Francis said. “However, precisely in the perspective of the faith, today’s celebration is in harmony with the true meaning of Christmas.”

By Elise Harris

Catholic publisher reissuing book with release of Jagerstatter biopic

Dec 22, 2019

With the release of a film biography of Blessed Franz Jagerstatter, the conscientious objector who was martyred by the Nazis, Orbis Books is reissuing its 10-year-old collection of the Austrian farmer’s letters and other writings from prison.

By Mark Pattison

U.S. brother beatified on soccer fields of Guatemalan school he served

Dec 9, 2019

Christian Brother James Miller taught students and served as a vice principal at the La Sallian Christian Brothers school in this impoverished pocket of rural Guatemala. He also helped oversee a boarding home for male students from the surrounding indigenous communities.

By David Agren