Pope Francis reflects on martyrdom: Only love can give meaning to the cross

This Thursday, Pope Francis received in audience the participants in the congress on martyrdom and the surrender of life organized by the Dicastery for the Cause of Saints in Rome, to whom he indicated that “only love can give meaning to the cross.” ”.

The Holy Father focused his speech on reflecting on martyrdom, remembering the words of Jesus in the Gospel of Saint John: “Greater love has no one than that which he lays down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13).

He specified that to beatify a martyr “a miracle is not required,” since martyrdom is enough, “this way we save some time… and paperwork and money,” the Holy Father said jokingly.

“Only love can give meaning to the cross”

For the Pontiff, “only love can give meaning to the cross: a love so great that it assumes all sin and forgives it, enters into our suffering and gives us the strength to endure it, it also enters into death to defeat it and save us. In the Cross of Christ is all the love of God, there is his immense mercy.”

“To be saints does not require only human effort or personal sacrifice of sacrifice and renunciation. Above all, we must allow ourselves to be transformed by the power of God’s love, which is greater than us and enables us to love beyond what we thought we were capable of doing,” Pope Francis highlighted.

He also stressed that the martyrdom of those who give their lives for God “exceeds the limits of death, no matter how cruel and suffering it may be.”

In the martyr, he continued, “we find the characteristics of the perfect disciple, who has imitated Christ by renouncing himself and taking up his cross and, transformed by his charity, has shown everyone the saving power of his Cross.”

As an example, he cited the martyrdom of the Coptic martyrs of Libya, beheaded by members of the Islamic State (ISIS) in 2015, and the Anglican martyrs of Uganda, executed because they refused to renounce their faith. He clarified that “with martyrdom there is equality,” which is why “the Church considers them martyrs.”

Fundamental elements for martyrdom to be valid

Next, the Holy Father recalled the 3 fundamental elements for martyrdom to be valid. Firstly, he indicated that the martyr is a Christian who, in order not to renounce his faith, “consciously accepts a violent and premature death.”

“Even an unbaptized Christian, who is a Christian at heart, confesses Jesus Christ with the Baptism of blood,” he added.

Secondly, he explained that “death is caused by a persecutor, moved by hatred of the faith or some other related virtue.” And finally, “the victim adopts an unexpected attitude of charity, patience, meekness, in imitation of Jesus crucified. What changes, in different eras, is not the concept of martyrdom, but the specific modalities with which it occurs in a specific historical context,” he specified.

As on previous occasions, Pope Francis reiterated that “also today, in many parts of the world, there are numerous martyrs who give their lives for Christ.” “In many cases, Christianity is persecuted because, driven by its faith in God, it defends justice, truth, peace and the dignity of people,” he added.

The Holy Father also referred to the importance of knowing the context and the set of indications that led that person to give their life for Christ, which he referred to as the “harmony of knowledge.”

He recalled that in the Jubilee 2025 bull, Hope does not disappointdefined the martyrs as the “most convincing testimony of hope” and made reference to the New Martyrs Commission – Witnesses of the Faith of the Dicastery of the Causes of Saints, which he established in July 2023 to include “the memory of those who, also in other Christian confessions, knew how to renounce life so as not to betray the Lord.”

In this regard he also cited his motu proprio A greater love than thiswith which he wanted to “express the common feeling of the faithful People of God regarding the testimony of holiness of those who, encouraged by the charity of Christ, have voluntarily offered their lives, accepting a certain and imminent death.”

“Also in this extraordinary testimony of holiness shines the beauty of the Christian life, which knows how to give itself without measure, like Jesus on the cross,” Pope Francis concluded.