Martyr

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The beatification Mass of Father Michał Rapacz at the Divine Mercy Shrine in Krakow-Łagiewniki, Poland, on Saturday, June 15, 2024.

Priest and martyr of communism Father Michał Rapacz beatified in Krakow

Jun 15, 2024

By Hannah Brockhaus

Pope Francis recognized the martyrdom of Father Michał Rapacz in January. The 41-year-old priest was shot twice by communist authorities... Read more

Pope Francis gives a blessing after he delivers his Angelus address to pilgrims gathered in St. Peter’s Square on Dec. 26, 2023.

Pope Francis: After 2,000 years the persecution of Christians continues

Dec 26, 2023

By Matthew Santucci

During Tuesday’s Angelus on the occasion of the feast of St. Stephen, Pope Francis renewed his call for peace. Read more

Painting of St. Stephen’s martyrdom.

St. Stephen: Visiting the spot where the first martyr died

Dec 26, 2023

By Jonah McKeown

A chapel of one form or another memorializing Stephen’s martyrdom has existed at the site since at least the fifth... Read more

Blessed Theodore Romzha. Left: A painting in the Basilian monastery of Glen Cove, New York, painted in the 1980s. Photo taken by Josaphat Vladimir Timkovic, OSBM. Right: An icon of Theodore Romzha, St. Anthony’s Church at Russicum.

The faithful servant of Christ and the Church who was assassinated by Soviet communists

Oct 22, 2023

By Martin Barillas

Blessed Theodore Romzha of Mukachevo, beatified by Pope John Paul II in 2001, stayed with his people until the end. Read more

Wiktoria Ulma with six of her children.

The Vatican says a newborn martyr had a ‘baptism of blood.’ What does that mean?

Sep 14, 2023

By Joe Bukuras, Andrea Gagliarducci

All nine members of the Ulma family, who were murdered by the Nazi regime for sheltering two Jewish families, were... Read more

Maximilian Kolbe, 1939.

St. Maximilian Kolbe’s life as a child prepared his path to holiness

Aug 14, 2023

By Antonio Tarallo

Father Raffaele Di Muro, dean of the San Bonaventura-Seraphicum Theological Faculty in Rome and director of the Kolbe chair, speaks... Read more

This work of art was displayed at St. Peter's on the occasion of the Vatican's celebration of the canonization of 117 Vietnamese martyrs on July 19, 1988.

Remembering the hundreds of thousands of Christians martyred in Vietnam 

Nov 24, 2022

By Kevin J. Jones

From 1630 to 1886, somewhere between 130,000 and 300,000 Christians faced martyrdom in Vietnam, often after being held captive and... Read more

Fr. Jacques Hamel.

Six years after grisly murder, France remembers Father Jacques Hamel

Jul 26, 2022

By Kevin J. Jones

Hamel was killed at the church on July 26, 2016, by supporters of the Islamic State group as he finished... Read more

The beatification of Fr. Jan Macha in Katowice, Poland, Nov. 20, 2021.

Catholic priest guillotined by Nazis is beatified in Poland

Nov 20, 2021

By Luke Coppen

Fr. Jan Macha was executed in 1942, after serving just 1,257 days as a priest. Read more

Blessed Emilia Fernandez

This pregnant woman who died in a prison in Spain, became a Martyr of the Rosary

Oct 7, 2021

By CNA Staff

A pregnant woman who found her faith in a Spanish prison during the Civil War (1936-1939) refused to give up... Read more

Chinese pilgrims attend the general audience in St. Peter's Square, Oct. 12, 2016.

Feast of Chinese Martyrs an opportunity to pray for persecuted Christians in China

Jul 9, 2021

By Alejandro Bermudez

Today, July 9, the Church celebrates the feast day of Chinese Martyrs, 120 faithful Catholics assassinated for their faith between... Read more

Sister Maria Laura Mainetti. Public domain.

Sr. Maria Laura Mainetti: Nun stabbed to death by three teenage girls is beatified

Jun 6, 2021

By CNA Staff

Sr. Maria Laura Mainetti was beatified on June 6, the anniversary of her murder, in Chiavenna, northern Italy. Read more

Sister Maria Laura Mainetti. Public domain.

Countdown to beatification of martyred Italian nun begins with Eucharistic adoration

Jun 4, 2021

By Courtney Mares

Sr. Maria Laura Mainetti was stabbed to death by three teenage girls in the town of Chiavenna, Italy, in 2000. Read more

Sr. Laura Mainetti’s vestition ceremony in 1959.

‘My Jesus’: Martyred Italian nun saw Christ in young people

Nov 27, 2020

By Hannah Brockhaus

A religious sister who knew Venerable Maria Laura Mainetti said the woman, who was murdered 20 years ago as part... Read more

Beatification Mass for Joan Roig Diggle in the Sagrada Família Basilica in Barcelona Nov. 7, 2020. Screenshot.

Teen martyred while protecting the Eucharist beatified in Spain

Nov 8, 2020

By Courtney Mares

A 19-year-old Spanish martyr who gave his life while protecting the Eucharist was beatified Saturday at a Mass in the... Read more

Sister Maria Laura Mainetti. Public domain.

Killer of martyred Italian nun: ‘I can have of her only a memory of love’

Oct 22, 2020

By Hannah Brockhaus

The three teenage girls who killed Sr. Maria Laura Mainetti 20 years ago attested afterward that while they were stabbing... Read more

Sister Maria Laura Mainetti. Public domain.

Pope Francis declares Catholic sister killed in Satanic ritual a martyr

Jun 19, 2020

By Hannah Brockhaus

Pope Francis declared Friday that an Italian religious sister killed by three teenage girls in a Satanic sacrifice was a... Read more

Brother James Miller. Courtesy: La Salle Christian Brothers

Martyred religious brother from Wisconsin farm family to be beatified in Guatemala 

Dec 7, 2019

The son of Wisconsin farmers, Brother James Miller, FSC, will be beatified in Guatemala this Saturday, 36 years after he... Read more

In Michelangelo's Pietà, the Virgin Mary holds her Son as she did at his birth.

St. Stephen’s Day connects Christ’s birth to his salvific mission, Pope Francis says

Dec 26, 2018

By Courtney Mares

The feast of the first Christian martyr, St. Stephen, falls the day after Christmas —  timing that contains an important... Read more

Vatican stamp honors priest martyred by Mafia 25 years ago

Jan 28, 2018

“I’ve been expecting you.” These were reportedly the foreboding last words of Blessed Giuseppe "Pino" Puglisi, an Italian priest who... Read more