Pope Leo: New martyrs are ‘stars that shine out in the darkness of selfishness and oppression’
September 17, 2026
Those who died in witnessing to their faith during this century are “like stars that shine out in the darkness of selfishness and oppression,” Pope Leo XIV said during a September 16 audience.
“They help the Church to reflect more fully the light of Christ the Lord, so as to show contemporary humanity the path that leads to the civilization of love,” Pope Leo told participants in a conference entitled “The 21st century: a new time of martyrs?” “The witnesses to the faith, by giving their lives for justice, truth, peace and freedom, have effectively contributed to the coming of the new heavens and the new earth, which we await with confidence through God’s mercy.”
The Pontiff recalled that in 2023, Pope Francis established the Commission for New Martyrs—Witnesses to the Faith. Pope Leo explained:
The concept of “witness to the faith” was formulated precisely to acknowledge and honor complex historical situations in which the perpetrators’ motives cannot be explicitly attributed to “hatred of the faith.” From this perspective, the work of the Commission for New Martyrs—Witnesses to the Faith, supported by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, is of a historiographical and educational nature, not a legal one, focusing on the victim’s state of mind rather than on the persecutor’s motives. In other words, the emphasis is on the fact that the victim remained faithful to Christ in fulfilling their evangelical commitment and did so unto death.
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Further information:
- Participants in the Study Conference promoted by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints (Dicastery for Communication - Vatican Media, 9/16/26)
- Audience with participants in the Conference promoted by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, “The 21st century: a new time of martyrs?” (Holy See Press Office, 9/16/26)
- Pope Leo XIV: New martyrs reflect Christ's light to the world (Vatican News, 9/16/26)
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