The Vatican has created a special commission to collect the stories of Christian martyrs in this century.
In a letter released July 5, Pope Francis announced the establishment of the commission, within the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, to record the accounts of Christian martyrdom since the year 2000. He noted that “the martyrs are more numerous in our time than in the early centuries.”
The commission will be charged with investigating the martyrdom of all Christians, not only Catholics. The Pope stressed that non-Catholic Christians stand “side by side” with Catholics in their heroic profession of faith.
The commission’s president will be Archbishop Fabio Fabene, the secretary of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. The vice-president will be Andrea Riccardi, the founder of the Sant’Egidio community.