The Ultimate Witness - In Blood

From the Apostolic Letter of John Paul II "Tertio Millennio Adveniente"

The Church of the first millennium was born of the blood of the
martyrs: "Sanguis martyrum - semen christianorum"(The blood of the
martyrs is the seed of christianity) ... At the end of the second
millennium, the Church has once again become a Church of martyrs. The
persecutions of believers - priests, religious and laity - has caused
a great sowing of martyrdom in different parts of the world. The
witness to Christ borne even to the shedding of blood has become a
common inheritance of Catholics, Orthodox, Anglicans and Protestants …
In our own century the martyrs have returned, many of them
nameless,"unknown soldiers" as it were of God's great cause. As far as
possible, their witness should not be lost to the Church. As was
recommended in the Consistory, the local Churches should do everything
possible to ensure that the memory of those who have suffered
martyrdom should be safeguarded, gathering the necessary
documentation. This gesture cannot fail to have an ecumenical
character and expression. Perhaps the most convincing form of
ecumenism is the ecumenism of the saints and of the martyrs.
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From the Apostolic Letter of John Paul II "Novo Millennio Ineunte"

41. May the shining example of the many witnesses to the faith whom we
have remembered during the Jubilee sustain and guide us in this
confident, enterprising and creative sense of mission. For the Church,
the martyrs have always been a seed of life. Sanguis martyrum semen
christianorum:25 this famous "law" formulated by Tertullian has proved
true in all the trials of history. Will this not also be the case of
the century and millennium now beginning? Perhaps we were too used to
thinking of the martyrs in rather distant terms, as though they were a
category of the past, associated especially with the first centuries
of the Christian era. The Jubilee remembrance has presented us with a
surprising vista, showing us that our own time is particularly
prolific in witnesses, who in different ways were able to live the
Gospel in the midst of hostility and persecution, often to the point
of the supreme test of shedding their blood. In them the word of God,
sown in good soil, yielded a hundred fold (cf. Mt 13:8, 23). By their
example they have shown us, and made smooth for us, so to speak, the
path to the future. All that remains for us is, with God's grace, to
follow in their footsteps.
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From the "Commemoration of the Witnesses of the Faith", at the
Colosseum, Rome, during the Great Jubilee 2000

A host of witnesses surrounds us. Before God and before the immolated
and glorious Lamb in the grace of the Holy Spirit we commemorate in
the Church and for the world the witnesses of the 20th century, the
many unknown soldiers for the cause of the Gospel. With gratitude and
hope, with a heart which remembers and forgives, we listen to the "act
et passa" of some of these brothers and sisters in the faith, their
acts of love and their suffering. They belong to all nations and to
all peoples, they are members of many different Christian Churches and
communities. They represent all ages and all vocations. Let us listen
and remember so that their courageous testimony of faith and love is
not forgotten.
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The Martyrology of the Church of the 21st century - 2001
Courtesy: AGENZIA FIDES

S. Dionitia Mary, India, Servites Mary Mother of Sorrows, Salem
diocese (India) – 21/1

Fr. Pietro De Franceschi, Italy, Sacred Heart Fathers. - Dehonian
Mocuba (Mozambique) – 1/2

Fr. Tom Manjaly, India, Diocesan, Manipur (India) – 2/2

Fr. Nazareno Lanciotti, Italy, Diocesan, Jaurù (Brazil) – 21/2

Fr. Jan Franzkevic, Poland, Diocesan, Iartzevo (Siberia) – 15/4

Sr. Barbara Ann Ford, USA, Sisters of Charity, Guatemala City – 5/5

Fr. Raymond Marie Gamache, Canada, Foreign Missions Soc. Quebec – PME
S.Isidro/dioc.di Ica (Peru) – 7/5

Fr. Raphael Paliakara, India, Soc. Don Bosco – SDB Imphal (India) – 15/5

Fr. Andreas Kindo, India, Soc. Don Bosco – SDB Imphal (India) – 15/5

Seminarian Joseph Shinu, India, Soc. Don Bosco – SDB Imphal (India) – 15/5

Fr. Henryk Dejneka, Poland, Oblate Missionaries Mary Immaculate OMI
Ngauoundéré (Cameroon) – 17/5

Sr. Claire Burundi, Disciples of Christ, Rumongi (Burundi) – 11/6

Fr. Leonardo A. Alzate, Colombia, Diocesan, Antioquia (Colombia) – 14/6

Fr. Martin Royackers, Canada, Jesuit – SJ, Annotto Bay (Jamaica) – 21/6

Fr. Fabian Thom, Australia, Franciscan – OFM Port Moresby (PNG) – 16/8

Fr. Galeano Buitrago, Colombia, Diocesan, Medellin (Colombia) – 27/8

Fr. Emil Jouret, Belgium, Jesuit – SJ, Kikwit (D. Congo) – 28/8

Fr. Rufus Halley, Ireland, St. Columban – SSCME,Malabang (Philippines) – 29/8

Fr. Héctor Fabio Vélez, Colombia, Diocesan, Cartago (Colombia) – 2/9

Fr. John Baptist Crasta, India, Diocesan, Jhakhand (India) – 6/9

Giuliano Berizzi, Italy, Lay volunteer, Kigali (Rwanda) – 6/10

Fr. Ettore Cunial, Italy, Giusep. Murialdo - CSI
Durazzo (Albania) – 8/10

Fr. Ernesto Martearena, Argentina, Diocesan, Salta (Argentina) – 8/10

Fr. Gopal, India, Diocesan, Puthkel (India) – 12/10

Fr. Celestino Digiovambattista, Italy, Camillian – MI
Ouagadougou (Burkina F.) 13/10

St. Lita Castillo, Peru, Dominicans, La Serena (Chile) – 29/10

Fr. Simeon Coly, Senegal, Diocesan, Ziguinchor (Senegal) – 7/11

Fr. Hubert Hofmans, Holland, Mariannhill - CMM Lae (PNG) – 23/11

Fr. Peter Obore, Sudán, Diocesan, Nimule (Uganda) – 24/11

Sarita Toppo, India, Consecrated lay woman Ambigapur (India) – 28/11

Fr. Michele D'Annucci, Italy, Stigmata Frs. – CSS Pretoria (South
Africa) – 8/12

Fr. Michael Mac, USA, Diocesan, Sandoval (N.Mexico/USA) – 8/12

Sr. Philomena Lyons, Ireland, Sacred Heart, Monaghan (Ireland) – 15/12