“The martyrs present us that each Christian is named to the witness of life, even when this doesn’t go so far as the shedding of blood, giving freely themselves to God and to their brethren, in imitation of Jesus,” he stated.

Pope Francis spoke to a big crowd of individuals in St. Peter’s Sq. on a sunny, spring morning.

The present theme of his Wednesday common audiences is “the fervour for evangelization.” On April 19, he centered on the subject of martyrdom and the witness it offers others in regards to the Christian religion.

“In the present day we are going to flip our consideration to not a single determine however to the host of martyrs, women and men of all ages, language, and nation who’ve given their life for Christ, who’ve shed their blood to admit Christ,” he stated. “After the technology of the Apostles, they had been the quintessential ‘witnesses’ of the Gospel.”

Pope Francis’ common viewers of April 19, 2023. Daniel Ibanez/CNA

“The phrase ‘martyr’ derives from the Greek ‘martyria,’ which certainly means witness,” he defined.

Francis emphasised that the Christian martyrs are usually not particular person heroes who acted alone however are like a “ripe and wonderful fruit of the winery of the Lord, which is the Church.”

“Christians,” he stated, “by taking part assiduously within the celebration of the Eucharist, had been led by the Spirit to base their lives on that thriller of affection: specifically, on the truth that the Lord Jesus had given his life for them, and due to this fact that they too might and will give their life for him and for his or her brothers and sisters.”

He referred to as Catholics to recollect the various women and men who’ve given their lives for Christ over the greater than 2,000-year historical past of the Church, particularly the quite a few martyrs of recent occasions.

Pope Francis’ common viewers of April 19, 2023. Daniel Ibanez/CNA

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