In this letter, the Postulator General invites the Visitators and Royal Superiors to respond to Pope Francis’ call for a catalogue of the New Martyrs!
To the Visitors and Regional Superiors
Dear confreres,
Pope Francis has established at the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the Commission of New Martyrs—Witnesses of the Faith, to draw up a Catalogue of all those who have shed their blood to confess Christ and bear witness to His Gospel. The Commission has the task of collecting, by the end of 2024, any useful information to compile the list of New Martyrs, those who have shed their blood from 2000 to the present day because of violent opposition to the good brought by the Gospel, or even just because they are Christians. The Catalogue will be published during the 2025 Jubilee.
I would like to draw your attention to this initiative and invite you to collaborate.
It means preparing, in a very short time, a first essential documentation in order to census the names, lives, and memories of these brothers and sisters of ours otherwise destined for oblivion, studying in depth, at the same time, the circumstances in which, in this first quarter of a century, their lives were interrupted.
In order to accomplish what Pope Francis requires, we need our collaboration and that of all those who can contribute to the reconstruction of such a census. For us, members of the Vincentian Family Movement, this commitment also represents a chance to become more attentive to our potential candidates for the honors of the altars belonging to our Family.
In this regard, I enclose two forms, with questions related to individuals or groups of members of the different branches of our Vincentian Family or even various denominations (given the diverse lay associations that are part of it) who have been killed for the faith. This form, once completed, should be sent in digital form to the email address: postgen@cmglobal.org and, in hard copy, to the General Curia. I kindly ask you not to send the names of our martyrs who are already on the list of the General Postulation.
Grateful for your attention to the Holy Father’s request, I welcome the occasion to greet you fraternally in the Lord,
Fr. Serhiy Pavlish, C.M.
General Postulator
