At 10.30 this morning, at the Holy See Press Office, Via della Conciliazione 54, a press conference was held to present the “The 21st century: a new time of martyrs?”, to be held at the Augustinianum on 15 September 2026.

The speakers were: His Eminence Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints; Archbishop Fabio Fabene, secretary, president of the New Martyrs – Witnesses to the Faith Commission; and Professor Andrea Riccardi, vice president of the New Martyrs – Witnesses to the Faith Commission.

The following is the intervention by His Eminence Cardinal Marcello Semeraro:

Intervention of His Eminence Cardinal Marcello Semeraro

First of all, I would like to greet you all and thank you for the attention you are giving to this initiative of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, which has for some time now been part of its traditional work. In Praedicate Evangelium (2022), we read, in fact, that the Dicastery ‘deals, in accordance with the prescribed procedure, with all matters concerning the causes of beatification and canonisation’ (Art. 98). Now, the “Commission for the New Martyrs – Witnesses to the Faith”, established on a permanent basis within the Congregation by Pope Francis, with the aim of “compiling a Catalogue of all those who have shed their blood to confess Christ and bear witness to the Gospel” (Letter of 3 July 2023), effectively broadens the Congregation’s remit. This may mean at least three things.

1.     The grace of holiness in the Church is signified, but not exhausted, by canonisations. It is not, of course, ruled out that, for some of those included in the Catalogue, a process of beatification and canonization may be initiated, provided the required conditions are met. What is intended to be highlighted, however, is rather the high standard of ordinary Christian life indicated by John Paul II in Novo millennio ineunte no. 30 and the holiness “next door” referred to by Pope Francis in Gaudete et exsultate nos. 6–8.

2.     I would add the anthropological value of Christian holiness. I quote, this time, Benedict XVI: ‘To suffer with the other and for others; to suffer for the sake of truth and justice; to suffer out of love and in order to become a person who truly loves – these are fundamental elements of humanity, and to abandon them would destroy man himself. Yet once again the question arises: are we capable of this? … For this too we need witnesses – martyrs -  who have given themselves totally, so as to show us the way – day after day. We need them if we are to prefer goodness to comfort, even in the little choices we face each day – knowing that this i show we live life to the full. Let us say it once again: the capacity to suffer for the sake of the truth is the measure of humanity” (Spe salvi, no. 39).

3.     I shall conclude with the ecumenical significance of this initiative, which was intended for the Commission by John Paul II from the very beginning. Already in the Encyclical Letter Ut unum sint (1995), he had written: ‘In a theocentric vision, we Christians already have a common Martyrology. … It shows how, at a profound level, God preserves communion among the baptized in the supreme demand of faith, manifested in the sacrifice of life” (no. 84). Pope Francis, too, when establishing the Commission within the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, emphasized that its work “will make it possible to place side by side with the martyrs, officially recognized by the Church, the documented testimonies - and there are many - of these brothers and sisters of ours, within a vast panorama in which the single voice of the martyria of Christians resounds.

Thank you once again for your attention.