Pope: Christians still face martyrdom at hands of 'insane ideologies'

By Linda Bordoni

In his preface to Professor Marco Gallo’s latest book dedicated to the Christian martyrs of Argentina during the years of the so-called Dirty War, when tens of thousands of people were murdered or disappeared by a ruthless military regime, Pope Francis reflects on how insane ideologies continue to fuel hatred and death.

The book in Italian, entitled Nell’occhio del cyclone – Martiri dell’Argentina degli anni Settanta ("In the eye of the storm - Martyrs of Argentina during the Seventies"), tells the story of the men and women, including priests and bishops who laid down their lives as they opposed the regime to protect their people during those years in Argentina, and opens a window on the witnesses of the Faith who continue to suffer persecution in many parts of the world today.

Christian martyrdom has never ended

Presenting the volume in the Vatican on Friday, 2 February, are the author and a prestigious line-up of speakers including the theologian Emilce Cuda, Secretary of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, in a discussion moderated by Matteo Bruni, Director of the Holy See Press Office.

Highlighting how the ancient history of Christian martyrdom has never come to an end, the Pope reflects on how so many people continue to be persecuted and killed “just because they have not stopped being disciples of Jesus.”

He recalls his visits to the Roman Basilica of St. Bartholomew, which is dedicated to contemporary Christian martyrs and was entrusted to the Community of Sant'Egidio by St. John Paul II.

There, he says, one can breathe “the ecumenism of the martyrs" and find great strength before the relics and testimonies of holy witnesses such as Maximilian Kolbe, St. Oscar Romero, Shahbaz Bhatti, and so many young African and Latin American men and women who were faithful to the Gospel “and not to the laws of gangs and corruption.”

The grace of God makes martyrs

The Holy Father explains that a martyr can be thought of as a hero, “but the fundamental thing about the martyr is that he or she has been 'pardoned': because it is the grace of God, not courage, that makes us martyrs.”

The Churchof today, he continues, is “in great need of witnesses, of everyday saints, those of ordinary life, and of those who have the courage to accept the grace of being witnesses to the end, even unto death.”

And focusing more closely on Professor Gallo’s book about the Argentinean martyrs of our time, the Pope points out that it is the result of careful historical research and of the living memory of their witness, and that it carries an important lesson.

“There are times and places when the prince of this world uses slander, takes souls and blinds minds, so Christians become a target and end up 'in the eye of the storm' because they bear witness to Jesus and his love.”

The book, he writes, helps us know and understand holiness through history. “It does not give us 'holy pictures', but makes these witnesses our contemporaries. It is a book that does good because it shows both the power of evil and the fruits of martyrdom. And this is the real defeat of the torturers and murderers who thought they had won.”

The Pope mentions the list of men, women, priests, and bishops killed or disappeared in Argentina during those terrible years, and that provides the backbone of the book, a list which was expanded by the National Commission on the Disappearance of Persons. When he was a cardinal, he reveals, Monsignor Carmelo Giaquinta gave him that list, and he says he asked him to continue efforts to gather all available information on the Christian martyrs during those years.

A personal commitment

“I myself encouraged the work that Professor Gallo has collected in this book,” Pope Francis writes. “It was a long list of victims, and we still do not know everything.”

In those years, he notes, Tertullian's phrase, 'the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church', was particularly true for Argentina and “remains true in other parts of the world, even today.”

The Pope goes on to name some of those who were attacked as the regime, based on “a rebellion of hatred” and that “could not stand the Church” pursued its goal “to eliminate the influence of the Church, made of freedom, truth and love.”

Blessed Enrique Angel Angelelli

“In Gallo's book, along with others, is the story of Monsignor Angelelli,” the Pope writes, a bishop who was recognised as blessed on 17 April 2019.”

He recounts how he got to know Enrique Angel Angelelli Carletti (who was assassinated in 1976 for his involvement with social issues and his closeness to the poor) shortly before becoming Jesuit provincial of Argentina when he visited La Rioja for spiritual exercises, together with his superior and the other consulting fathers: “We had first arrived in La Rioja on a sadly historic day, 13 June 1973, when the agrarians of the area had organised a stone-throwing attack, a real stoning to try to get the bishop and his collaborators to leave. “

In the following days and months, Pope Francis tells of how he got to know this priest who had “one ear to the word of God and one ear to the people” and witnessed a people truly united to the Church by its pastor, and also of how the Church in Argentina was following the indications of the Second Vatican Council.

Monsignor Angelelli, he continues, was closely tied to his people, “who accompanied him along the road, to the peripheries, both geographical and existential.”

And recalling many Argentinean religious who became contemporary martyrs, the Pope concludes his preface by upholding the book that, he says, “helps us to remember and opens a window not only on Argentina but on a world of witnesses to the faith who continue to shed their blood in many parts of the world.”