Pope Francis remembers current martyrs

Before the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis recalled that, like Saint Stephen, the first martyr whose day is celebrated this December 26, today there are many persecuted because of the Gospel.

From the window of the Apostolic Palace of the Vatican, the Pontiff remembered this saint, patron of deacons, who while he was being stoned “prayed for his murderers.”

In this context, he specified that the martyr faced his death “as a truly free man,” loving even his murderers and offering his life for them, “like Jesus on the cross.”
so that “they may repent and, having been forgiven, may have the gift of eternal life.”

In this way, “Deacon Esteban presents himself to us as a witness of that God who has only one great desire: that all be saved and that no one be lost,” he continued.

For Pope Francis, Saint Stephen is also “witness of the Father who wants good and only good for each of his children, always; who excludes none, who never tires of seeking them and welcoming them when, after having strayed away, they return to Him in repentance.”

He then remarked that “God forgives everything, and always forgives,” and lamented that “there are still many men and women in various parts of the world who are persecuted, sometimes to the point of death, because of the Gospel.”

“They do not allow themselves to be killed out of weakness, nor to defend an ideology, but to make everyone share in the gift of salvation that they have received from the Lord Jesus Christ,” said the Holy Father.

He further explained that they do it “for the good of their murderers, who are more in need of forgiveness and redemption than the others.”

Pope Francis also cited Blessed Christian de Chergé, a martyr of our time beatified in 2018 in Algeria, who called his murderer a “friend of the last minute.”

“Thinking about who was going to kill him, he called him ‘friend’ and ‘brother’, and he wished that he were with him in Heaven. This is the love of God, the love that saves the world! “How much we need this love!” he exclaimed.

For this reason, he addressed the following questions to the faithful: “Do I feel the desire for everyone to know God and be saved? Do I know how to want good even for those who make me suffer? Do I take interest in the many brothers persecuted for their faith and pray for them?

“Enough colonizing towns with weapons”

At the end of the Marian prayer of the Angelus, Pope Francis renewed his Christmas greetings, thanked the messages received and conveyed his closeness to the Jews who celebrate the feast of Hanukkah.

He also recalled that this morning he opened the Holy Door of the Roman prison of Rebibbia, which he defined as “the cathedral of pain and hope.”

He then called again for the elimination of the external debt of the poorest countries, a call included in his message for the World Day of Peace, which will be celebrated next January 1.

Before the faithful and pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican, the Pontiff specified that the issue of debt is linked to that of peace, while denouncing the black market in weapons: “Stop colonizing people with weapons,” he emphasized.

“Let us work for disarmament, against hunger, against diseases, against child labor,” he then asked.

Finally, Pope Francis invited people to pray for peace throughout the world, especially in countries suffering from war, such as the “martyred” Ukraine, Gaza, Israel and Myanmar.