Pope remembers modern martyrs, visits prison on St. Stephen’s Day

Pope Francis marked the day after Christmas by noting Christians are still being persecuted for their faith, as the Church celebrates the feast day of the first martyr, St. Stephen.

“Unfortunately, today there are still, in various parts of the world, many men and women who are persecuted, at times up to death, because of the Gospel,” the pontiff said during his Angelus address in St. Peter’s Square on Thursday.

In the Acts of the Apostles, St. Stephen – a deacon – was stoned to death after being accused of blasphemy by Jewish leaders shortly after the Jesus Christ’s ascension into heaven.

In his Angelus address, Francis said the story of St. Stephen applies to the present-day martyrs, too.

“They do not allow themselves to be killed out of weakness, nor to defend an ideology, but to make everyone participants in the gift of salvation they have received from the Lord Jesus Christ,” he said.

“And they do so first and foremost precisely for the good of their killers, who are more in need of forgiveness and redemption than others,” the pope continued, noting that before his death, St. Stephen prayed for his killers.

“This gives us pause for thought: In fact, even though at first sight Stephen seems to be helplessly suffering violence, in reality, as a truly free man, he continues to love even his killers and to offer his life for them, like Jesus on the cross, so that they may repent and, having been forgiven, be given eternal life,” Francis said.

“In this way, the deacon Stephen appears to us as a witness of that God who has one great desire: That all men be saved and that none be lost. He is a witness to the Father who wants good and only good for each of His children, always; who excludes no one, who never tires of seeking them out and of welcoming them back when, after having strayed, they return to Him in repentance,” he said.

In his Angelus address, Francis spoke about Blessed Christian de Chergé, a French Cistercian who was one of the seven monks kidnapped from the Abbey of Our Lady of Atlas in Tibhirine, Algeria, and later killed by Islamists in 1996. He and the other monks were beatified in 2018.

The pope called him “aa martyr of our time.”

“In his spiritual testament, foreseeing his imminent death, he called his future murderer a ;last minute friend’ and expressed this wish to him: ‘May we, blessed thieves, find each other again in Paradise, if it pleases God, our Father, both of us’ Understand? Thinking of who would kill him, he called him ‘friend’ and ‘brother’ and wished to have him with him in Heaven,” he said.

“This is what God’s love is like, the love that saves the world! How we need this love! Let us ask ourselves, then: Do I feel the desire for all to know God and to be saved? Do I also want the good of those who make me suffer? Do I take an interest in and pray for the many brothers and sisters who are persecuted for their faith?” Francis said.

Francis gave his Angelus address after returning from the Rebibbia New Complex Prison in Rome, where he opened a Holy Door for the Jubilee Year.

Saying a Mass for the prisoners and staff, he told them to not lose hope.

“Hope never disappoints. Never. Sometimes the rope is hard and hurts our hands… but with the rope, always with the rope in our hands, looking at the shore, the anchor carries us forward. There is always something good, there is always something that keeps us going,” the pope said.

“The rope in his hand and, secondly, the windows wide open, the doors wide open. Especially the door of the heart. When the heart is closed it becomes hard as a stone; he forgets about tenderness. Even in the most difficult situations – each of us has our own, easier, more difficult, I think of you – always have an open heart; the heart, which is precisely what makes us brothers. Open wide the doors of the heart. Everyone knows how to do it. Everyone knows where the door is closed or half-closed. Everyone knows,” he continued.

“Two things I tell you. First: The rope in your hand, with the anchor of hope. Second: Open wide the doors of the heart. We have opened this one, but this is a symbol of the door of our heart,” Francis said.

Follow Charles Collins on X: @CharlesinRome