How many martyrs will the Catholic Church have by 2026? The Dicastery for the Causes of Saints provides an answer
More than 1,700 Christians have been recorded by a Vatican commission as martyrs, with an additional 100-150 names expected in 2026. The list includes Catholics and Christians of other traditions who were killed for bearing witness to Christ. The figures were presented at a two‑day international conference in Rome on 15–16 September, organized by the Commission for New Martyrs under the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. The data underscores the 21st‑century trend of memorializing martyrdom through blood rather than documents.
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The Vatican’s Commission for New Martyrs has documented more than 1,700 Christians who died because of their faith, with an additional 100 to 150 names expected to be added during 2026. The record includes Catholics and Christians from other traditions and is intended to preserve their witness, not to create a new list of canonized saints. 1
The figures were presented during a September 15–16 conference in Rome organized by the Commission for New Martyrs – Witnesses of the Faith, which Pope Francis established in July 2023 under the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. The commission gathers evidence about Christians who died because of the Gospel, including people whose cases may never enter a formal canonization process. 1
Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, prefect of the Dicastery, emphasized that the Church does not simply “create” saints. Canonization requires a formal ecclesial judgment, while the broader catalogue seeks to ensure that a Christian’s testimony is not forgotten merely because no beatification or canonization process exists. 1
The commission’s work covers multiple continents and includes forms of persecution beyond deaths occurring during acts of worship. In South America, it has documented 304 martyrs since the beginning of the 21st century, including missionaries and laypeople killed in conflicts involving drug trafficking, deforestation and resistance to the exploitation of natural resources. 1
The conference also examined situations in Nigeria, Mozambique and Burkina Faso. Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo of Kinshasa addressed violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the killing of 130 Christians in August. The commission is additionally reviewing cases from the Holy Land, Europe and Asia. 1
Historian Andrea Riccardi, the commission’s vice president, said the expression “new age of martyrs” describes an ongoing reality rather than merely a symbolic idea. 1
The catalogue includes Christians from different denominations, reflecting what the Vatican describes as a “common martyrdom” among the baptized. The inclusion of 21 Coptic Christians in the Roman Martyrology in 2023 was cited as an example of Christians from distinct traditions being remembered together. 1
Semeraro characterized this shared witness as an “ecumenism of blood”: unity among Christians created by fidelity to Christ even when theological and institutional divisions remain. 1
According to Semeraro, martyrdom is not a glorification of suffering. It is understood as an extreme expression of love, truth and fidelity, in which individuals place justice above violence, conscience above compromise and human dignity above self-preservation. 1
The commission’s catalogue is therefore presented as more than a record of persecution. It also points to the Church’s broader understanding of holiness, including hidden or ordinary forms of Christian witness that may never receive public recognition. 1
The article describes the catalogue as serving two purposes: remembering Christians whose lives were violently ended and challenging contemporary believers to consider the meaning of faith when confronted by fear, injustice or pressure. 1*
How does 21st‑century martyrdom reflect Catholic Church’s witness?
21st-century martyrdom reveals the Catholic Church as a living, missionary, and hopeful witness to Christ—not merely as an institution remembering past heroes. It shows that the Gospel continues to be credible when Christians remain faithful amid violence, injustice, and persecution.
A martyr is, literally, a “witness.” In the fullest sense, martyrs bear witness to Christ even at the cost of their lives. Their sacrifice reflects Christ’s own Passion and demonstrates that love for God can be stronger than fear of death. The Church therefore regards martyrdom as the supreme proof of love and the highest form of conformity to Christ.
Modern martyrs include clergy, religious, laypeople, and Christians from many nations. Their witness is not limited to formal preaching: they testify through refusing violence, defending the poor, serving the sick, protecting human dignity, or declining to renounce Christ. Pope Francis notes that Christians are often persecuted precisely because faith leads them to defend justice, truth, peace, and the dignity of the human person.
The Church’s martyrs do not sanctify violence or revenge. Their strength is the “power of love,” which can appear weak before the world yet triumphs over hatred and death.
This is evident in examples such as Father Ragheed Ganni, who refused to fight, and Sister Dorothy Stang, whose “only weapon” was the Bible. Their witness presents Christian courage as fidelity without hatred. Martyrs also imitate Christ by forgiving and praying for their persecutors; Pope Francis identifies this forgiveness as a distinctive mark of authentic martyrdom.
Contemporary martyrdom crosses national and ecclesial boundaries. Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans, Protestants, and other Christians have suffered and died for Christ. The Church calls this the “ecumenism of blood”: Christians who are divided in some doctrines nevertheless become united in their common confession of Jesus Christ.
Thus, martyrdom becomes a sign that Christian unity is not merely an organizational project. The blood of witnesses points toward unity rooted in the Cross of Christ.
From a merely human perspective, persecution may seem to defeat the Church. Faith interprets it differently: Christ’s Resurrection transforms apparent defeat into a testimony of victory. The ancient Christian conviction that “the blood of martyrs is the seed of new Christians” expresses the belief that faithful suffering can strengthen the Church and inspire new believers.
Martyrdom is therefore not glorification of death. It is a proclamation that Christ is worth more than earthly security and that death does not have the final word. John Paul II calls martyrdom the supreme embodiment of the “Gospel of hope.”
Most Christians will not be called to shed their blood. Nevertheless, all are called to witness to Christ faithfully in ordinary life, including when faith brings social pressure, exclusion, or personal cost.
The witness of 21st-century martyrs therefore challenges Catholics to live with courage, reject hatred, defend the vulnerable, forgive enemies, and remain publicly faithful to the Gospel. Their lives show that the Church’s witness is strongest when it becomes sacrificial love—“with him, for him and in him.”