“Indeed, the word martyr means witness: the martyrs are witnesses, that is, brothers and sisters who, through their lives, show us Jesus, who conquered evil with mercy. And even in our day, martyrs are numerous, more so than in the early times”, Pope Francis said.

“Today let us pray for these persecuted martyr brothers and sisters, who bear witness to Christ. But it will do us good to ask ourselves: do I bear witness to Christ? And how can we improve in this? We can indeed be helped by the figure of Saint Stephen.”

Stephen, the pontiff noted, spoke of Jesus to those he met and was not intimidated even by the threats of his persecutors. “Charity and proclamation, this was Stephen. However, his greatest testimony is yet another: that he knew how to unite charity and proclamation. He left it to us at the point of his death when, following the example of Jesus, he forgave his killers.” 

The faithful “can improve our witness through charity towards our brothers and sisters, fidelity to the Word of God, and forgiveness. Charity, Word, forgiveness. It is forgiveness that tells whether we truly practice charity towards others, and if we live the Word of God.”

Playing on the connection between the Italian word for forgiveness — perdono — and the Italian word for a gift — dono — the pope explained that forgiveness is a gift “we give to others because we belong to Jesus, forgiven by him.”