In the matter of two young children who were recently shot dead during School Mass in Minneapolis, should this be regarded as murder or as martyrdom? We ask this question because in the aftermath of this horrific tragedy, which took place in a Catholic church, many people are proclaiming the victims to be martyrs.
What do the following Saints have in common: Peter, Paul, Andrew, James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon, and Thaddeus; Linus, Cletus, Clement, Xystus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian, John, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, Ignatius, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter, Felicitas, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia?
Traditional Catholics recognize these names as those that are included in the Roman Canon of Holy Mass, along with the Blessed Mother, who is named first and foremost. Novus Ordo Catholics may recognize that some or all of these names may be recited in what is commonly known as Eucharistic Prayer One—but even then, some of these Saints are optional to name, by choice of the priest celebrant.
Another reality that these Saints all have in common is that they are martyrs, having shed their blood to the point of death for Christ and the Catholic Faith. Saint John the Apostle, we know, suffered the pains of martyrdom but was miraculously saved. Mary was a spiritual martyr. The reason that Saint Joseph, a holy and just man, was never included in the ancient Roman Canon was that he did not die as a martyr.
The Saints that are named in the traditional Roman Canon reveal something about the ancient practice of recognizing and canonizing saints; namely, the Church was assured that the souls of these individuals achieved the beatific vision, by the fact that they died as martyrs. Not only did these individuals achieve salvation but they now wear the crown of martyrdom. And to these names could be added countless more.
Under what circumstances did the martyrs of the Roman Canon die? Peter and Andrew were crucified, and at their request upside down, judging themselves unworthy to die as Christ. Most of the Apostles were martyred in the course of preaching the Gospel, murdered by various means, to include stoning, impalement and beatings. Early Popes were martyred by beheading or were plunged into the deep sea. Still other martyrs of the ancient Church were tortured and mutilated in various ways to cause death. This included dismemberment, flaying off skin, burning at stakes and over fires, or being devoured by animals.
Regardless of a particular means of death, what are essential elements that qualify murder as martyrdom?
Martyrdom can only properly be said of those who hold fast to the Catholic Faith and are in the Catholic Church. Even as early as the Patristic period, Church Fathers commented on the fact that neither heretics nor schismatics can be regarded as Christian martyrs. This truth is solemnly affirmed by Pope Eugenius:
We firmly believe, profess, and proclaim that those not living within the Catholic Church, not only pagans, but also Jews and heretics and schismatics cannot become participants in eternal life, but will depart “into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels,” unless before the end of life the same have been added to the flock; and that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is so strong that only to those remaining in it are the sacraments of the Church of benefit for salvation, and do fastings, almsgiving, and other functions of piety and exercises of Christian service producing eternal reward, and that no one, whatever almsgiving he has practiced, even if he has shed blood for the name of Christ, can be saved, unless he has remained in the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church.
Martyrdom must be a consequence, directly or indirectly, of odium Fidei, that is, a hatred of the Faith, on the part of the persecutor or perpetrator of the murder. By Faith is meant the one, true Catholic Faith. This would again exclude heretics and schismatics as martyrs. It certainly excludes those who die in witness to false religions. And it excludes those murdered out of a hatred that is not directed at the Catholic Faith.
Martyrdom must be a conscious and voluntary act on the part of the person that is killed. Pope Benedict XIV described martyrdom as, “the voluntary enduring or tolerating of death on account of the Faith of Christ or another act of virtue in reference to God” (“voluntaria mortis perpessio sive tolerantia propter Fidem Christi, vel alium virtutis actum in Deum relatum”). More recently, Pope Benedict XVI, reaffirming his papal predecessor in this regard, wrote: “The martyrs of the past and those of our time, who gave and give life by shedding blood (effusio sanguinis) freely and consciously in a supreme act of love, witness to their faithfulness to Christ, to the gospel and to the Church.”
The funeral service for one of the children killed took place in a Lutheran church and the other in an outdoor bandshell. This strongly suggests that neither of these victims is a candidate for martyrdom, as it appears they are not Catholic.
With these three criteria for martyrdom in mind, we come to the crux that occasioned this Last Word. In the matter of two young children who were recently shot dead during School Mass in Minneapolis, should this be regarded as murder or as martyrdom? We ask this question because in the aftermath of this horrific tragedy, which took place in a Catholic church, many people are proclaiming the victims to be martyrs.
With regard to the first criterion, were the children Catholic? It is common now in many Catholic schools to have many students who are not Catholic or even baptized at all. In fact, the funeral service for one of the children killed took place in a Lutheran church and the other in an outdoor bandshell. This strongly suggests that neither of these victims is a candidate for martyrdom, as it appears they are not Catholic.
Regarding the second criterion, while the shooter did express wide-ranging hatred and rage, he clearly had a particular satanic hatred for Catholicism and he very specifically targeted a Catholic church in which Catholic Mass was being offered, knowing Catholic children and parishioners would be present.
As for the third criterion, it appears that this situation falls short of the requirement for voluntary enduring or tolerating death on account of the Faith. Even assuming the children attended Mass as a voluntary act—as opposed to doing so out of obedience—that in itself does not constitute a conscious and voluntary act with regard to enduring and accepting death for the sake of the Faith, at the hands of a hidden shooter.
The Last Word: Thomas Becket was gloriously martyred in a cathedral whereas these innocent children were tragically murdered in a church.
