In a letter released July 5, Pope Francis announced the establishment of the commission, within the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, to record the accounts of Christian martyrdom since the year 2000.
He noted
that “the martyrs are more numerous in our time than in the early
centuries.”
The commission will be charged with investigating the martyrdom of all
Christians, not only Catholics.
The Pope stressed that non-Catholic
Christians stand “side by side” with Catholics in their heroic
profession of faith.
The commission’s president will be Archbishop Fabio Fabene, the
secretary of the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints.
The vice-president
will be Andrea Riccardi, the founder of the Sant’Egidio community.