Martyr of charity

In the Catholic Church, a martyr of charity is someone who dies as a result of a charitable act or of administering Christian charity. While a martyr of the faith, which is what is usually meant by the word "martyr" (both in canon law and in lay terms), dies through being persecuted for being a Catholic or for being a Christian, a martyr of charity dies through practicing charity motivated by Christianity.[1] This is an unofficial form of martyrdom; when Pope Paul VI beatified Maximilian Kolbe he gave him that honorary title (in 1982, when Kolbe was canonized by Pope John Paul II that title was still not given official canonical recognition; instead, John Paul II overruled his advisory commission, which had said Kolbe was a Confessor, not a Martyr, ruling that the systematic hatred of the Nazis as a group toward the rest of humanity was in itself a form of hatred of the faith).[2] Earlier martyrs of charity who were canonized were recognized as "Confessor of the Faith" (meaning someone who suffered in some recognized way- usually by some form of persecution, ostracization, exile, etc.- for the Catholic faith, but who did not have to be killed for it) rather than martyrs.

List of martyrs of charity

References

  1. Weigel, George (30 May 2008). "Navy SEAL, "Martyr of Charity?"". The Catholic Difference. Ethics and Public Policy Center. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
  2. Peterson, Anna Lisa (1997). Martyrdom and the politics of religion: progressive Catholicism in El Salvador's civil war. SUNY Press. p. 94. ISBN 0-7914-3181-9.
  3. González Nieves, Roberto O. (19 February 2000). "The Permanent Diaconate: its Identity, Functions, and Prospects". Vatican. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
  4. John Paul II (15 August 2001). "Angelus: Solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary". Vatican. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
  5. MacErlean, A. (1911). "Edward Metcalfe". The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved 11 October 2009.
  6. "Bernardo Tolomei (1272–1348)". Vatican. Retrieved 12 October 2009.
  7. http://newsaints.faithweb.com/new_martyrs/martyrs_charity.htm

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