“Pope Francis the other day said that in a sense, every Christian is called to be a martyr.”
I don’t think Francis means it in the context that most Christians would assume. The pope is a wolf in sheeps clothing, and I have the suspicion that he would relish the opportunity to rid the Church of actual Christians.
I’d say the “Catholic thing” is the vast and rich body of spiritual teaching, art, architecture, music, literature, educational institutions, hospitals, relief agencies, social teaching, daily support, global church network, and much more that’s 2,000 years old, and counting. Even longer if you count the Jewish roots that are integral to Catholicism. I think of it as unique because there’s nothing else like it in the world. Even if you aren’t Catholic or dislike Catholicism, it’s a massive cultural reality worth knowing.
After reading this, it is clear the concept of martyrdom has been dumbed down.........................
It’s a pity the book probably didn’t mention one of the other truly great martyrs of the 20th Century - Dietrich Bonhoeffer. While I didn’t agree with all of his theology, he was very a very devout and sincere clergyman who was faced with this question: “If you had the ability to help resist and perhaps assassinate a dictator who was pure evil and slaughtering thousands if not millions - is it Christian to do it? His decision got him exterminated by the Nazis.
A cradle Catholic with a K-12 Catholic school education, I can recall being taught in elementary school in the early 1960s that every Christian must be prepared to be a martyr. Even if we are not called to die, we may sometimes be persecuted for and suffer for our Christian faith. The menace of Communism was before us then, but we were also warned that we must be prepared to accept disapproval, hostility, or even punishment for our Catholic faith. And, like the Christian martyrs of old, we should accept such consequences with courage and good grace, even cheerfully, and without spite against our tormentors.