VATICAN CITY (CNS) When St. John Paul II initiated preparations for the Holy Year 2000, he believed the church in every corner of the earth must remain anchored in the testimony of the martyrs and jealously guard their memory in order to journey with faith, hope and confidence into the third millennium.
Martyrs have proclaimed the Gospel by giving their lives for love, reflecting Christ s words on the cross, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do, the pope wrote in his 19
Summer in Rome is traditionally a time when things slow down, yet at the Vatican it’s business as usual, with Pope Francis making at least four noteworthy decisions all in one day, from indulgences to surprise meetings with Bill Clinton.
As Pope John Paul II’s commission did in 2000, this new body will draft an ecumenical catalogue in view of the Jubilee of 2025 for those who gave their lives for the Gospel in our time. In 2000, more than 1,700 martyrs were counted in 20th century Asia. The new commission includes Fr Dinh Anh Nhue Nguyen, from Vietnam.
The Vatican made an announcement on Wednesday, revealing the creation of a commission dedicated to researching and documenting the stories of Christian martyrs from the third millennium. In a .