We have witnessed religious persecution with much bloodshed for those who refuse to submit to pagan religions, atheistic ideologies, or for being missionaries of the Catholic Faith in regions that were waiting for the proclamation of the Gospel.
Newsdesk (June 15, 2021, 13:16, Gaudium Press) Upon hearing the word martyrs, the memory of the first Christians who shed their blood, especially in Rome, does not fail to come to mind. The picture of the Colosseum presents itself to our eyes. This enormous amphitheater, with its arena filled with blessings, was the scene of the martyrdom of so many at the time of the persecutions. The events were sinister and, at the same time, magnificent. The image of the podium appears where the authorities watched the martyrdom of Christians devoured by beasts. Without the slightest doubt, the suffering of these martyrs was mystically linked to Christians of all times.
By resisting the pressure of the idolatrous and paganized environment that surrounded them, these men and women offered their lives. The Christians remained faithful to the grace of conversion they had received when they met the Holy Catholic Church in its early days, with an uncompromising spirit and total surrender. Refusing to put incense to the pagan “gods” was sufficient reason to be thrown to the beasts where they would be devoured.
The epic of the early martyrs
I remember the beautiful words that Monsignor João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, Founder of the Heralds of the Gospel, wrote as a meditation while in the Coliseum itself, in February 1993. Paraphrasing some excerpts from the pleasant literary text:
“Right next to the stage where the emperors delighted in the dismantling of the bodies of the martyrs, the central and most important place in the audience of this historic, terrible, and grandiose Colosseum, I can witness with my mind and imagination countless martyrdoms. The victims were the object of scorn of those pagans who awaited the tragic moment when they would unleash the hungry beasts in the arena. The booing, for them, represented nothing. They encouraged the belief in the choirs of Angels and the Blessed that awaited for them with a palm and a crown beyond the walls of the apparent realities of this life. The crowd shouts, silence, and great suspense: the hungry beasts burst into the arena and advance on the pure and innocent victims to devour them.”
“Once the cruel slaughter is over, the gladiators enter to chain the animals that have satiated their bestial appetite with the meats of new seraphim. The arena is empty; the show is over, the frustrated crowd slowly withdraws. What a demonstration of Faith and nobility they have witnessed! The Christians remain. When the shadow of night begins to cover the city, they go to the sand in search of the earth transformed into a relic, soaked with the blood of those martyrs, who today constitute a true legion that is enjoying the beatific vision. This building is evocative: each stone has a beautiful story to tell, to say a word about that past covered in blood, pain, and glory. Oh, the arena that was the pedestal of so many Blessed!”
It is well said, “blood of martyrs, a seed of Christians.” So it happened, yes, millions of Christians were martyred in the most horrible ways in the first centuries of Christianity. Their blood paved the way for the conversion of so many to the Christian Faith.
Almost two thousand years have passed. However, throughout the centuries and all over the world, we have witnessed moments of religious persecution with much bloodshed by those who refused to submit to pagan religions, atheistic ideologies, or for being missionaries of the Catholic Faith in regions that were waiting for the proclamation of the Gospel.
There is so much talk about human rights…
Our 21st century is full of words about human rights, the right to practice any religion, ideology, or way of life. Yet, we find situations that make us sad, fill us with outrage, and make us reflect.
In our environments – even within the effects of an endless pandemic – we live in the tranquility that we could better describe as “pseudo normality.” Carefree, we can go to the mall, to the supermarket, to the cinema, practise some sport, walk through the streets, go to Mass, travel. As Catholics, even as believers, we have, at the moment, no open opposition to our religious convictions.
We cannot help but compare our situation with those Christians who, in several countries in Africa, suffer relentless persecution that inevitably leads them to death. It happens if they keep their Faith, based on the commandments of the Law of God and the teachings of the Holy Church, and, even more, if they are missionaries.
That is what is happening, for example, in Nigeria. More than 1,400 Christians have been massacred by extremist groups, breaking the gruesome record for the highest number since 2014 (according to the International Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law). For its part, the Pontifical Foundation Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) reported an increase in the persecution of Christians in Africa. In addition to these murders, victims in other countries of this continent are also occurring, casting a terrifying shadow over the Church in Cameroon, Chad, Kenya, and Somalia. After the execution of ten Christians a day after Christmas, the Bishop M. Kukah of Sokoto, Nigeria, said: “It is part of a much larger drama that we live with daily.”
While we enjoy ‘pseudo-normality’….
They are being persecuted and killed with no mercy; we are quietly enjoying “pseudo-normality.”
Learning these facts, we cannot remain in the same frame of mind. The lack of information on the subject in the international communication services, so quick to report certain types of events, is suspicious. They seem blind and deaf in the face of these terrible events.
That is why I, as well as many who read this article, would like to offer my support, sympathy, and condolences to them. As well, an outraged protest for these murders of our brothers in Faith from Africa. May they, “martyrs of the 21st century”, their families and friends, know that we are with them from the bottom of our hearts.
From a distance, from our “comforts” – in quotes, because I don’t know for how long we will have them – a greeting, a prayer, an embrace to our African brothers. They are suffering persecution from those who, demanding tolerance for their religious or political extremist thoughts, act with the most relentless intolerance towards those who want to bring peace and joy to their hearts in Christ our Lord.
May God grant that the “blood” of these martyrs be the “seed” of new Christians and produce an abundant harvest for his Kingdom. May God and the Virgin Mary accompany you.
By Father Fernando Gioia, EP
www.reflexionando.org
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We have witnessed religious persecution with much bloodshed for those who refuse to submit to pagan religions, atheistic ideologies, or for being missionaries of the Catholic Faith in regions that were waiting for the proclamation of the Gospel.
The post 21st Century Martyrs appeared first on Gaudium Press. Read More Opinion, COLISEUM, PONTIFICAL FOUNDATION HELPS THE CHURCH WHICH IS Suffering, founder of the Heralds of the Gospel, MARTYRS, martyrs of the early times, martyrs in the 21st century, Monsignor João Scognamiglio Clá Dias, PADRE FERNANDO GIOIA Gaudium Press
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