Consecrated men and women from around the globe, meeting in Rome, denounced the persecution of Christians and made an urgent appeal to the international community to “implement concrete interventions” for peace.
The message, above the signature of Cardinal João Braz de Aviz, prefect of the Congregation for Consecrated Life and Institutes of Apostolic Life, was issued on behalf of about 1,300 religious who got together in the Vatican for an international congress last week.
Participants expressed closeness “to those in the world who are suffering because of their faith in Jesus Christ” and expressed their “communion with all consecrated men and women who, in the various peripheries of the world, suffer because they are Christian and consecrated”.
The religious thanked their suffering brethren for their witness of fidelity to their vocation and mission and for remaining close to those who suffer.
Their appeal followed a martyrs-related activity, held in Rome on March 24 by the Youth Movement of the Pontifical Mission Societies, known as the Shalom Catholic Community, which was established in 1982 at the initiative of a group of undergraduates.
Commemorating the anniversary of the assassination of Mgr Oscar Arnulfo Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, who will be beatified on May 23, the Community organised a ‘Day of prayer and fasting in memory of the missionary martyrs’ and sponsored a relay to show solidarity with and raise awareness of persecuted Christians.
In the new millennium, several thousands of Christians continue to die every year due to their faith
The Community recalled, through prayer and fasting, all the missionaries who had been killed in the world and the pastoral workers who shed their blood to bear witness to the Gospel.
According to information gathered by Agenzia Fides, 115 missionaries died violently in the years 1980-1989 and 604 were killed between 1990 and 2000.
The number for 1990-2000 is significantly higher than in the previous decade, mainly as a result of the genocide in Rwanda, which brought at least 248 victims among Church personnel.
In the years 2001-2014, the total number of pastoral workers killed was 343.
Addressing participants in the Shalom Community’s relay, which finished in St Peter’s Square, Rome, on Easter Monday, Pope Francis expressed his hope that the international community does not look on “silent and inactive” in the face of the “unacceptable crime” of the persecution of Christians around the world.
“Your itinerary on the streets is over but what must continue on the part of all is the spiritual journey of prayer, intense prayer: the concrete participation and tangible help in the defence and protection of our brothers and sisters who are persecuted, exiled, killed, beheaded, for the only reason of being a Christian,” said Pope Francis.
Describing these victims as “our” many martyrs of today, the Pope added: “We are able to say that they are more numerous than in the first centuries. I sincerely hope that the international community does not look the other way.”
The Holy Father has spoken about the persecution of Christians on various occasions. He is on the record saying, for instance, that if in Nero’s persecution there were many martyrs, today there are no fewer persecuted Christians.
The facts about the persecution of Christians are well known.
In the new millennium, several thousands of Christians continue to die every year due to their faith.
In more than 40 countries around the world today, Christians are being persecuted because of their faith. In some of these states it is illegal to own a Bible, to share one’s faith in Christ, change one’s faith or teach one’s children about Jesus.
Those who courageously follow Christ, mainly in spite of radical opposition, can face harassment, arrest, torture and even death.
Charles Buttigieg is a former PRO of the Archbishop’s Curia.