Remembrance of the prayer for the new martyrs of the Twentieth Century presided over by John Paul II at the Coliseum in Rome with the representatives of Christian churches during the Great Jubilee of the year 2000.

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You are a chosen race,
a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people acquired by God
to proclaim his marvellous works.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Acts 8,1-8

Saul approved of the killing. That day a bitter persecution started against the church in Jerusalem, and everyone except the apostles scattered to the country districts of Judaea and Samaria. There were some devout people, however, who buried Stephen and made great mourning for him. Saul then began doing great harm to the church; he went from house to house arresting both men and women and sending them to prison. Once they had scattered, they went from place to place preaching the good news. And Philip went to a Samaritan town and proclaimed the Christ to them. The people unanimously welcomed the message Philip preached, because they had heard of the miracles he worked and because they saw them for themselves. For unclean spirits came shrieking out of many who were possessed, and several paralytics and cripples were cured. As a result there was great rejoicing in that town.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

You will be holy,
because I am holy, thus says the Lord.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The stoning of Stephen marks an important milestone in the history of the first Christian community. The history of Christian martyrdom started as Jesus himself had said speaking also of himself, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (Jn 12:24). And a few centuries later, a wise Christian, Tertullian, in front of the fact that persecutions of Christians were becoming more cruel, said, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of Christians." In effect, the ferocious stoning of Stephen was not just targeted at eliminating him, but to the attempt of blocking Christian preaching from its start: indeed it unleashed a violent persecution of the first followers of Jesus of Nazareth. Luke writes that some were able to stay in Jerusalem, while many others were forced to flee and headed to Antioch. And the proclamation of the Gospel continued there. The Word of God cannot be chained. If the disciples are faithful to it, its proclamation becomes stronger. So, we can say that the repression of the community in Jerusalem instead of stopping the proclamation of the Gospel broadened it to other cities. Christian loves leads to "giving one's life" for the Gospel and for one's brothers and sisters, especially the poorest. This is the testimony also of Philip, another of the seven deacons. He - but it is also the example of many other disciples of the first Church whose names we do not know - broadened the preaching of the Gospel to the region of Samaria, where new wonders were worked among the people. The Word of God grew in the hearts of many and the community grew with it.