Pope Francis has commissioned a new working group in the Vatican’s department of saint-making, known as the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, to identify Christians from all denominations worldwide who have been killed for their faith since 2000.
In a letter Tuesday, the pontiff said the effort seeks to honor these martyrs at the upcoming Jubilee of 2025.
“In view of the forthcoming Jubilee of 2025, which will see us gathered as ‘Pilgrims of Hope’, I have established at the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints the ‘Commission of the New Martyrs – Witnesses of the Faith’, to draw up a Catalogue of all those who have shed their blood to confess Christ and bear witness to His Gospel,” Pope Francis said.
The Jubilee “is a special year of grace, in which the Catholic Church offers the faithful the possibility of asking for a plenary indulgence, that is, the remission of sins for themselves or for deceased relatives,” according to the website Jubilee 2025. The celebration generally lasts for a year, starting just before Christmas and finishing some 12 days after Christmas or at the completion of the Epiphany, the following year.
In his letter, Pope Francis noted that martyrs today “are more numerous in our time than in the first centuries.”
“They are bishops, priests, consecrated men and women, lay people and families, who in the different countries of the world, with the gift of their lives, have offered the supreme proof of charity,” he said.
In his letter, Francis explained that the stories of modern-day martyrs in the last quarter century that he expects to investigate and record with his new project will build on past research in the area and “stand as a treasure cherished by the Christian community.”
“It is therefore a matter of continuing historical research in order to gather the testimonies of life, up to the shedding of blood, of these sisters and brothers of ours, so that their memory can stand as a treasure cherished by the Christian community,” he said. “The research will concern not only the Catholic Church but will extend to all Christian denominations. Even in our times, in which we are witnessing a change of epoch, Christians continue to show, in contexts of great risk, the vitality of Baptism that unites us.”