(ZENIT News / Rome, 09.10.2025).- On September 14, the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Pope Leo XIV will preside over a solemn liturgy in the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls to remember those who, in this century, have given their lives for Christ. The event, entitled the «Ecumenical Commemoration of the Martyrs and Witnesses of the Faith of the 21st Century», is meant not only as an act of remembrance, but also as a sign of unity across Christian traditions.
The initiative comes from the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and its Commission for New Martyrs–Witnesses of the Faith, a body established by Pope Francis in 2023 to document and preserve the memory of contemporary martyrs. Its mandate stretches beyond Catholicism, reflecting a vision of martyrdom that transcends denominational borders.
Cardinal Kurt Koch, head of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, reminded participants in a recent ecumenical gathering that the blood of martyrs has long been considered a binding force between Christians. “The Church,” he said, “is already one in the blood of her martyrs.”
Archbishop Fabio Fabene, president of the Commission, underlined in a press conference that the research leading to this commemoration encompassed Christians of every confession. “The vitality of baptism unites all those who gave their lives,” he explained, invoking the expression “ecumenism of blood” often used by St. John Paul II. He added that Pope Leo XIV hopes these lives “become seeds of peace, reconciliation, fraternity, and love.”
Andrea Riccardi, vice-president of the Commission and founder of the Sant’Egidio Community, mapped the geography of modern martyrdom: Christians slain by drug cartels and criminal gangs in the Americas; missionaries killed in Africa, especially in regions plagued by jihadist violence; victims of sectarian conflict in the Middle East and North Africa; the faithful struck down during the 2019 Easter bombings in Sri Lanka. According to Riccardi, Sub-Saharan Africa remains “the continent where more Christians die than anywhere else.”
“Christians continue to die across the globe,” Riccardi said. “The circumstances vary, but their witness is consistent: they live and die out of love for God and their neighbors, offering the Gospel with freedom and conviction.”
The commemoration itself will take the form of a Liturgy of the Word, with Pope Leo XIV presiding alongside representatives of 24 different Christian communities. The program includes the reading of testimonies from various martyrs, allowing their voices to echo through their sacrifice.
Monsignor Marco Gnavi, secretary of the Commission, explained that the liturgy is designed to expand memory and bring diverse traditions into dialogue. “To stand side by side while the martyrs speak through their death is an immense encouragement toward unity — among Christians and within the broader human family,” he said.
The event recalls a precedent set in the Jubilee Year 2000, when John Paul II led an ecumenical service in the Colosseum honoring 20th-century martyrs. This new memorial extends that gesture into the 21st century, making clear that martyrdom, once thought a relic of the early Church, is a pressing and contemporary reality.
In honoring these witnesses, the Vatican seeks to underline a paradox: the divisions among Christians remain unresolved, but the martyrs already testify to a unity written not in documents or dialogues, but in blood.
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