Martyrdom

The anniversary of the publication of John Paul II’s Veritatis Splendor (1993) and Fides et Ratio (1998) gives us the opportunity to reflect on a topic that may initially seem tangential but is of great contemporary relevance— namely, martyrdom.1 Pope Francis himself has noted that there are more Christian martyrs today than in the times of the early Church;2 such a fact may be reason for great hope in the future of the Church,3 for as Tertullian assured the pagan world, the tortures inflicted on Christians would accomplish nothing other than to entice people to the Christian religion, since the sight of those who were courageous enough to die for their faith would lead pagans to question the values and tenets by which they lived. As Tertullian says to the pagan persecutors, “We become more numerous every time we are hewn down by you; the blood of Christians is [the] seed [of the church].”4