Rome (Italy). On 24 March 2024, on the date commemorating the assassination of Msgr. Oscar Romero on 24 March 1980 in San Salvador, there is the 32nd Day of Missionary Martyrs.
The commitment of Msgr. Oscar Romero alongside the Salvadoran people, fighting against an elitist regime indifferent to the conditions of the weakest and the workers, still continues to speak, recalling the need for a Christian life attentive to prayer and the care of brothers and sisters. This Day is therefore an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of the legacy he has left and to remember those who, like him, have sacrificed their lives in service.
The information gathered by Fides Agency reveal that 20 missionaries were killed in the world in 2023: 1 Bishop, 8 priests, 2 religious not priests, 1 seminarian, 1 novice, and 7 lay people. Compared to the previous year, there were 2 more missionaries killed. According to the continental breakdown, this year the highest number returns to be in Africa, where 9 missionaries were killed: 5 priests, 2 religious, 1 seminarian, 1 novice. In America, 6 missionaries were murdered: 1 bishop, 3 priests, 2 lay people. In Asia, 4 lay people died, killed by violence. One lay missionary was killed in Europe.
One of the significant traits that most pastoral workers killed in 2023 have in common – reports Fides – is the normality of life: They did not accomplish any spectacular actions or extraordinary things that could have drawn attention and put them as someone’s target. They are priests who were going to celebrate Mass or to carry out pastoral activities in some distant community. These are armed assaults perpetrated along busy streets; assaults on rectories and convents where they were engaged in evangelization, charity, human promotion. Through no fault of their own, they found themselves victims of kidnappings, acts of terrorism, involved in shootings or violence of various kinds. They could have gone elsewhere, moved to safer places, or desisted from their Christian commitments, perhaps by reducing them. But they did not, even though aware of the situation and the dangers they faced every day.
The Church and the world go forward thanks to them, who “are not flowers sprouted in a desert”, and to the many who, like them, bear witness in the ordinariness of their lives, as their gratitude for Christ’s love, translating it into daily acts of fraternity and hope.
Pope Francis on 26 December 2023, at the Angelus on the feast of Saint Stephen, the first martyr of the Christian community, highlighted that “there are still – and they are many – of those who suffer and die to witness to Jesus, as there are those who are penalized at various levels for behaving consistently with the Gospel. And there are those who struggle every day to remain faithful to their good duties without making noise, while the world laughs at them and preaches something else. In fact, now as then, the seed of their sacrifices, which seems to die, sprouts, bears fruit, because through them, God continues to work wonders (Acts 18:9-10), to change hearts and save people.”
“For the new martyrs, witnesses of Christ”, is the intention of prayer for the month of March 2024 of the Video of the Pope’s global initiative to spread the monthly prayer intentions of the Holy Father developed by the Pope’s World Prayer Network:
“Brothers, sisters, there will always be martyrs among us. It is a sign that we are on the right path. An experienced person told me that there are more martyrs today than at the beginning of Christianity. The courage of the martyrs, the witness of the martyrs, is a blessing for all. Let us pray that those in various parts of the world who risk their lives for the Gospel will infect the Church with their courage and their missionary drive. Open to the grace of martyrdom,” are the words of Pope Francis.
At this link of the Fondazione Missio (CEI) material can be found to animate the Day and useful resources for the animation of celebratory moments during Lent.
Manifest of the Day 2024: Catholic faithful take part in a march commemorating the 41st anniversary of the assassination of Salvadorean Saint Oscar Arnulfo Romero (1917-1980) in San Salvador on 24 March 2021. MARVIN RECINOS – copyright AFP.
