Homily of Pope Leo XIV in commemoration of the martyrs and witnesses of the faith of the 21st century

Pope Leo XIV presided over this Sunday, September 14, feast of the exaltation of the Holy Cruz, the “commemoration of the martyrs and witnesses of the faith of the 21st century” in the Basilica of San Pablo Extramuros, in Rome.

Representatives of Orthodox Churches, Oriental Churches, various Christian communities, as well as ecumenical institutions and Dicasteria authorities of the Vatican were also present at the ecumenical meeting.

Next, the full text of the homily of Pope Leo XIV in the “commemoration of the martyrs and witnesses of the faith of the 21st century”:

Brothers and sisters:

“I will only boast on the cross of Our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ga 6,14). The words of the apostle Paul, together with whose grave we are gathered, introduce us to the commemoration of the martyrs and witnesses of the faith of the 21st century, at the feast of the exaltation of the Holy Cross.

At the foot of the Cross of Christ, our salvation, described as the “hope of Christians” and the “glory of the martyrs” (cf. Vespers of the Byzantine Liturgy at the Fiesta de la Exaltaci), I greet the representatives of the Orthodox churches, the ancient Oriental Churches, the Christian communions and the ecumenical organizations, whom I thank having accepted my invitation to this celebration. To all of you here I say my hug of peace.

We are convinced that the martyria Until death is “the most authentic communion that exists with Christ, that spills his blood and, in this sacrifice, brings those who were some time (cf. eph 2,13)” (Cart. Enc. They are one84). Even today we can affirm with John Paul II that, where hate seemed to permeate every aspect of life, these bold servers of the Gospel and martyrs of faith evidently demonstrated that “love is stronger than death” (Ecumenical commemoration of witnesses of the faith of the twentieth century7 mayo 2000).

We remind these brothers and sisters of ours with the look directed to the crucified. With his cross Jesus has expressed the true face of God, his infinite compassion for humanity; He charged the hate and violence of the world, to share the fate of all those who are humiliated and oppressed: “He endured our sufferings and loaded with our ailments” (Is 53,4).

Many brothers and sisters, also today, because of their testimony of faith in difficult situations and hostile contexts, carry the same cross of the Lord. Like him they are persecuted, convicted, killed. Of them Jesus says: “Happy you, when you are insulted and persecuted, and when you slander them in every way because of me” (Mt 5.10-11). They are women and men, religious and religious, laity and priests, who pay with life loyalty to the gospel, the commitment to justice, the struggle for religious freedom where it is still transgressed, solidarity with the poorest. According to the criteria of the world, they have been “defeated.” Actually, as the Book of Wisdom tells us: “In the eyes of men, they were punished, but their hope was filled with immortality” (Sb 3,4).

Brothers and sisters, throughout the jubilee year, we celebrate the hope of these brave witnesses of faith. It is a hope full of immortality, because its martyrdom continues to spread the Gospel in a world marked by hatred, violence and war; It is a hope full of immortality, because, although they were killed in the body, no one can turn off their voice or erase the love they donated; It is a hope full of immortality, because his testimony remains as a prophecy of the victory of good over evil.

Yes, yours is unarmed hope. Faith has ever testified without ever using the weapons of force or violence, but hugging the weak and meek strength of the Gospel, according to the words of the apostle Paul: «Rather, I will boast with all my heart in my weakness, so that the power of Christ resides in me. (…) because when I’m weak, then I’m strong »(2 Co 12,9-10).

I think of the evangelical force of sister Dorothy Stang, committed to the “landless” in the Amazon. To those who were about to kill her and asked for a gun, she showed them the Bible responding: “Here is my only weapon.” I think of Father Ragheed Ganni, Mosul Chaldean Priest in Iraq, who resigned to fight to testify how a true Christian behaves.

I think of brother Francis Tofi, Anglican and member of the Melanesian Brotheroodwho gave life for peace in the Solomon Islands. The examples would be many, because unfortunately, despite the end of the great dictatorships of the twentieth century, the persecution of Christians has not ended today, moreover, in some parts of the world it has increased.

These bold servers of the Gospel and martyrs of faith, “are like a great picture of Christian humanity (…). A mural of the Gospel of the Beatitudes, lived until the spill of the blood ”(S. John Paul II, Ecumenical commemoration of witnesses of the faith of the twentieth century7 mayo 2000).

Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t, we don’t want to forget. We want to remember. We make it sure that, as in the first centuries, also in the third millennium the blood of the martyrs is a seed of new Christians (cf. Tertullian, Apol. 50, 13). We want to preserve memory with our brothers and sisters from the other Christian churches and communions.

I want, therefore, to reaffirm the commitment of the Catholic Church to guard the memory of witnesses of the faith of all Christian traditions. The Commission for the new martyrs, in the Dicasterio for the causes of the saints, fulfills this task, collaborating with the Dicastery for the promotion of the unity of Christians.

As we recognized during the recent synod, blood ecumenism unites the “Christians of different traditions that together give their life for faith in Jesus Christ. The testimony of his martyrdom is more eloquent than any word: the unit comes from the cross of the Lord ”(XVI Synod Assembly, Final documentn.23). That the blood of so many witnesses ahead on the happy day we will drink from the same salvation chalice!

Dear friends, a Pakistani child, Abish Masih, killed in an attack against the Catholic Church, had written in his notebook: «Making the world a better place“,” Make the world a better place. ” That this child’s dream drives us to testify our faith with courage, to be together yeast of a peaceful and fraternal humanity.