What is the place in today’s world for people who follow Jesus Christ? More specifically, we might ask what we as Catholics are called to do and to be in our day? This question can be asked by many because the world seems to be increasingly challenging as a place to live our faith.
Pope Leo celebrated the “Commemoration of the Martyrs and the Witnesses of the Faith of the 21st Century” on Sept. 14, 2025, the Feast of the Exultation of the Cross, at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside The Walls. In doing so, he gathered with invited representatives of various Christian denominations to pay tribute to these witnesses of the faith.
In his comments, the Holy Father stated, “Many brothers and sisters, even today, carry the same cross as our Lord on account of their witness to the faith in difficult situations and hostile contexts: like Him, they are persecuted, condemned and killed. It is of them that Jesus says: ‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account’ (Mt 5:10-11). They are women and men, religious, lay people and priests, who pay with their lives for their fidelity to the Gospel, their commitment to justice, their battle for religious freedom where it is still being violated, and their solidarity with the most disadvantaged.”
In preparation for that gathering, a Vatican commission reported that it has identified more than 1,600 cases of Catholics who have died for the faith since the year 2000. The number is likely higher because many cases go unreported or are difficult to document. And many Christians outside of the Catholic faith have also given their lives in witness to Christ.
Even short of sharing in the blood and death of martyrdom, the Christian faithful share in the suffering of Jesus. In our own country, the recent shooting of Catholic school children at Mass left death, pain and psychological damage that will probably last for years. In the aftermath, faith was ridiculed and reference to prayer in such moments of crisis was scorned as simply an exercise in self-delusion instead of union with the loving God.
In many circumstances, witnessing to God’s plan of creation, especially in the God-given gift of being male or female is to risk social and economic consequences. To speak also for the poor and for the recognition of human dignity of refugees and immigrants also attracts criticism and ostracization.
As Catholics, we know that sharing in the cross of Jesus is what we have been called to do. It is a part of our identity, as much today as it was the Monday after the first Easter.
The Patristic Letter of Diognetus stated in the 2nd century, “To sum up all in one word — what the soul is in the body, Christians are in the world. … God has assigned them this illustrious position, which it were unlawful for them to forsake.”
Just as our soul animates and guides our body even in the midst of bodily temptations and weaknesses, so is our faith-filled role in the world. We are called to witness to the truth, especially the moral truth, in the way we live. We have a special contact with the grace of Jesus’s presence in the Eucharist and with the forgiveness of sins in confession. We strengthen our families and those of society by marriage and being generous in accepting children. And we are examples of forgiveness when we are wronged or offended.
Living out our Catholic faith is part of God’s plan. It is not only for our own benefit but for that of the world. Even in dark and challenging moments, we are instruments of Christ and witnesses to the world. That is our identity and our special place in the world.
