Ever since the early Church, Christians around the world have been killed for their faith, many of whom are officially recognized by the Catholic Church as martyrs.
Some have asked over the years whether modern non-Catholics could be included in this category, as there are many examples of faithful Christians who are killed for their faith.
Witness to the faith
As with many things, it all depends on the definition of a martyr. The word “martyr” originally derived from the “Greek word martus [signifying] a witness who testifies to a fact of which he has knowledge from personal observation.” In Christian usage this was at first applied to the apostles, who witnessed first hand the life of Jesus Christ and his resurrection.
Later on in the first centuries of the Church the term was used exclusively to denote those holy men and women who gave witness to Christ by shedding their blood.
In this broad category we certainly could include non-Catholics (and even non-Christians), as the only qualification is that they are killed for their faith in Jesus Christ.
This corresponds to what the Catechism of the Catholic Church describes as the "baptism of blood:"
The Church has always held the firm conviction that those who suffer death for the sake of the faith without having received Baptism are baptized by their death for and with Christ. This Baptism of blood, like the desire for Baptism, brings about the fruits of Baptism without being a sacrament. (CCC 1258)
Pope Francis set-up a commission in 2023 entitled, "Commission of the New Martyrs - Witnesses of the Faith," where the goal was to identify the Witnesses of the Faith in this first quarter of the century and to continue in the future. The catalogue included both Catholics and non-Catholics.
Pope Leo XIV recently celebrated an ecumenical celebration where he commemorated the martyrdom of 1,624 Christians who were killed for their faith since the beginning of the 21st century. It was not a formal recognition of martyrdom, but more of an historical record, cataloguing those who died for the Christian faith.
As a result, if you are to define being a martyr as someone who could be canonized by the Catholic Church, the list narrows down to only those who died as a Catholic.
But some exceptions
Pope Francis did break the mold on one occasion when 21 Christian martyrs, including 20 Copts killed by Daech in 2015 in Libya, were included in the Roman martyrology. This was a case when the Coptic Church canonized individuals first, and then Pope Francis recognized those saints and included them in the official list of saints in the Catholic Church.
This action by Pope Francis will likely be the exception and not normative, though even St. John Paul II inscribed several Orthodox saints into the Roman martyrology during his pontificate.
"Ecumenism of blood"
Martyrdom is one way in which the Christian can be more fully conformed to Jesus Christ, who gave us the prime example of shedding blood in a pure gift of self.
At times, certain Vatican leaders have noted that Christians, including non-Catholics, giving their lives for Christ is a strong impetus toward Christian unity. This has been dubbed the "ecumenism of blood."
All Christians, whether Catholic or not, should be inspired by Jesus' example and strive to imitate it as best as we can. For most of us, that will me "little" martyrdoms each day, where we are persecuted for our faith in smaller ways.
Yet, some of us may be called one day to die for our faith and if that is the case, God will give us the strength and courage to offer our life as a living oblation of love.
