Heeding the call of Pope Francis for the Church to identify 21st-century martyrs, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said it will order a census of those who sacrificed their lives for the witness of Christ.
Monsignor Bernardino Pantin, CBCP Secretary General, said that the list is not only limited to Catholics “but to all Christian confessions”.
“Here in our country, we also have our share of the faithful who have died for the faith,” Pantin said.
“The CBCP will be asking all the dioceses, religious congregations and the different commissions to help in gathering these data of the Filipinos or foreign missionaries who have been murdered for their faith so that they could be submitted to Rome in time for the 2025 Jubilee,” he said during a Mass for this year’s observance of “Red Wednesday” Nov. 29 at the Manila Cathedral.
Red Wednesday is an initiative launched in 2015 by Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), a Catholic charity dedicated to the support the suffering and persecuted Christians around the world.
In the Philippines, a number of cathedrals and parish churches, including the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod City, were lit in red and masses were offered to highlight and pray for the more than 250 million Christians, “who courageously bear the cross for their faith in Jesus Christ”.
“They endure hardships, discrimination, violence, and even death because they refuse to renounce their faith,” Pantin said in a CBCP press release. “Let us recommit ourselves to living out our faith boldly, following the example of those who persevere amid persecution.”
“Let us be steadfast in prayer, support, and advocacy for our persecuted brothers and sisters, knowing that through our solidarity, we contribute to the spread of God’s kingdom on earth,” he also said.
Pope Francis in July set up a special commission tasked to study the modern-day killings of Christians, and identify those he calls “new martyrs” of the 21st century.
The pope had given the task to the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints’ the “Commission for New Martyrs – Witnesses of the Faith”, which was created in view of the Jubilee 2025.
Among the commission’s objectives is to draw up a catalogue of all Christians who have shed their blood to confess Christ and bear witness to the Gospel.
Meanwhile, a Catholic bishop has warned the church’s media ministry workers against being “obsessed” with what he called as the “followers” system on social media.
Speaking at the 12th Catholic Social Media Summit (CSMS) Dec. 2, Auxiliary Bishop Midyphil Billones of Cebu said that number doesn’t matter “as long as you encourage them to find strength in their faith”.
“In the Catholic online community, this does not matter as long as you encourage them to find strength in their faith. You have served your purpose,” Billones said in his keynote address. “Even if far less but your followers are led to Christ, this is better than a million followers led away from the Lord.”
Nearly 400 participants attended the two-day summit, a quarter of them virtually, the CBCP said.
The event brought together social communication ministry workers and Catholic media practitioners from different dioceses, congregations, and church organizations.
While the digital media platform can be “bastardized or weaponized”, the bishop said that it also offers a good opportunity for evangelization and transformation. “We admit its limitations and vulnerabilities, but we cannot deny its potentials and its possibilities.”
CSMS is an initiative of YouthPinoy, a group of young “online missionaries”, in collaboration with the Media Office of the CBCP, Areopagus Communications, and the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Social Communications. ||
