Martyrs Archives

‘Father Stan’s Our Man’: Okla. farm town honors hometown hero on path to sainthood

A crowd of nearly 400 gathered in a small church in Oklahoma to pay tribute to a hometown hero who could become a saint. The Reverend Stanley Francis Rother was killed in Guatemala by three masked assassins in 1981 because he had sided with local Indians against the government.

Who are the martyrs Pope Francis will beatify in Colombia?

Given the nature of their deaths, the two clergy killed amid a civil war Pope Francis is set to beatify in Colombia, one a bishop and the other a priest, can be seen as belonging to a new wave of “modern martyrs” Francis has often referred to, killed by oppressive regimes of their time such as Nazism, Communism and brutal dictatorships.

Pope to beatify Colombian martyrs during visit

It has been confirmed now by the Vatican that Pope Francis will beatify Bishop Jesus Emilio Jaramillo Monsalve of Arauca and Father Pedro Ramirez Ramos while he is in Colombia in September. The pope has also just signed decrees recognizing the heroic virtues of some other people wending their way through the beatification process.

If Pope wants to honor martyrs, fast-track their sainthood causes
- Analysis
- April 23, 2017
Though anti-Christian persecution around the world is a widespread and growing problem, popes can’t just wave a magic wand and make police states, armed gangs and terrorists disappear. What they can do, however, is deploy their unique authority to fast-track sainthood causes for new martyrs, and Pope Francis has a looming chance to do just that when he visits India.
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Francis poses both/and approach to fighting anti-Christian persecution
- Analysis, Pope Francis in Egypt
- April 21, 2017
Most activists in the fight against global anti-Christian persecution are inclined to go on the offensive, calling out offenders, demanding sanctions, and in general not taking things lying down. Pope Francis appears to prefer the carrot over the stick, but it’s possible to see this contrast as both/and — by reaching out so incessantly, Francis may be providing others the chance to push back.
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Archbishop says Pakistani martyrs illustrate ‘purpose of being’
- Global Church, Interviews
- April 20, 2017
Christians in Pakistan represent just two percent of the population in an overwhelmingly Muslim nation, and one gripped for the last thirty years by a rising tide of extremism. They’re also largely poor and members of ethnic and linguistic minorities, so they’re doubly or triply at risk. Archbishop Sebastian Shaw of Lahore says that his country’s martyrs can teach the Church, and the world, about ‘the purpose of being.’
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