Pope Leo XIV on Sunday honored hundreds of Christians killed for their faith in the 21st century, saying their numbers were rising in many parts of the world and praising their courage in the face of persecution.
Presiding over an evening prayer service at the basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, the pope invited Orthodox patriarchs and Christian ministers from more than 30 denominations to participate in what the Vatican described as a commemoration of modern martyrs. The service was part of observances tied to a Holy Year and recalled a similar 2000 Jubilee commemoration presided over by St. John Paul II at the Colosseum 25 years earlier.
"Many brothers and sisters, even today, carry the same cross as our Lord on account of their witness to the faith in difficult situations and hostile contexts," the pope said. "Like him, they are persecuted, condemned and killed." He framed the commemoration as an expression of what the Vatican calls the "ecumenism of blood," which unites Christians of different confessions who are persecuted and killed because of their faith.
A Vatican study commission created in 2023 has documented more than 1,500 cases of Christians killed since 2000, the Vatican said. Andrea Riccardi, vice president of the commission, told a recent briefing that the list includes victims of Islamic militant attacks, killings by criminal organizations and cases in which people were targeted for defending human rights and the environment.
Riccardi said the commission would not publish the complete list now because of ongoing security concerns in parts of the world. He provided a regional breakdown of cases the commission had added to its records: 643 in sub-Saharan Africa, most killed in attacks by Islamic militants; 357 in Asia and Oceania, including victims of the 2019 Easter Sunday suicide bombings in Sri Lanka; 304 in the Americas, including missionaries and activists targeted for defending the Amazon; 277 in the Middle East and North Africa, many of whom belonged to non-Catholic denominations; and 43 in Europe.
The commission's tally also noted that 110 Europeans were among those killed elsewhere, a group made up largely of missionary priests and nuns.
During the service, the pope cited several specific cases, including the 2005 killing of Sister Dorothy Stang, an American nun who spent decades defending the Amazon rainforest and the rights of poor rural settlers. Sister Stang was shot to death in a hit ordered by ranchers, and the pope recalled her response when asked for a weapon: "This is my only weapon," she said as she showed the assailants her Bible.
The Vatican emphasized that the study commission operates separately from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints and that compiling the stories of the slain is not part of the formal process of beatification or canonization. The commission's stated aim is to collect and remember the experiences of Christians killed for their faith, rather than to confer sainthood.
Vatican officials said the documented victims reflect a range of circumstances in which Christians have been killed: outspoken defense of human rights and environmental protection in Latin America; attacks by Islamist militants in parts of Africa and the Middle East; targeted killings by criminal groups; and violence inflicted where Christians live as minorities.
The pope lamented that the end of many 20th-century dictatorships had not ended the persecution of Christians, and in some places the number of killings has grown. By hosting ecumenical leaders and representatives from multiple Christian traditions, the Vatican sought to underscore a collective remembrance of those who have died for their faith and to highlight the global character of the phenomenon documented by the commission.