The Catholic Martyrs of the Twentieth Century.

The Catholic Martyrs
of the Twentieth Century
Robert Royal
Crossroad/Herder & Herder, $39.95, 448 pp.

In his apostolic letter Tertio millenio adveniente (1994), Pope John Paul II announced a plan to create a martyrology of all those--Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican, and Protestant--who suffered for the faith in the twentieth century. Last May a public celebration was held at the Colosseum in Rome to honor (but not by name) such witnesses to the faith. Robert Royal, inspired by the words of the 1994 letter, decided to write a book on such martyrs. While he restricted his efforts to Roman Catholic martyrs, his was still a monumental task. (More than eight thousand names of proposed Catholic martyrs have been forwarded to Rome.) By being judiciously selective as well as writing well, Royal has provided us with a useful panoramic view of the many people who died for Christ in the twentieth century.

In some chapters, Royal's strategy is to tell one person's story as a microcosm for a whole nation's history of persecution. For example, his chapter on Mexico chronicles, in some detail, the life and death of Miguel Pro, S.J., as well as the death of so many other priests, sisters, and lay Catholic activists. In other places (the Ukraine, for example), the sheer scope of the persecution demanded a wider lens. As Royal notes, the preponderance of his material comes from the militant atheistic states under communism. However, he does provide a judicious chapter on the recent martyrs of Central and Latin America. His material on such sad places as Sudan is much more sketchy, but that story is, alas, still unfolding. Royal has done a good job in providing a readable survey even though the sources he relies on are, at times, overly hagiographic.

While I recognize that this is a work of history, I am sorry that Royal did not elucidate better the concept of martyrdom and the challenges provided by contemporary martyrs. He says, in his introduction, that he will leave such issues to the "church," by which he means, of course, the Roman dicasteries. Yet, by canonizing as martyrs Edith Stein and Maximilian Kolbe (to name just two), the pope has extended the definition of the martyr. Indeed, John Paul has spoken of Kolbe as a "martyr of charity." The old rule of thumb, enunciated by Augustine, was that the "cause and not the punishment" (causa non poena) made the martyr. This rule was further developed by Aquinas who described martyrs as those who died in defense of the truth. Thomas rightly noted that John the Baptist died not in defense of faith but for his protest against sexual license. It is that broader understanding of martyr which is found in the pope's Veritatis splendor.

Although I understand why Royal limited himself to Roman Catholics, there could be a very interesting theological discussion about those who died for Christ who were not Catholic. Some prelate in Rome recently argued that one should distinguish between martyrs and witnesses for the faith so that the former term might reflect more faithfully the canonization process. This is the distinction of a canonist, not a theologian. I think it worthwhile to reflect more fully on the papal assertion, in more than one place, that martyrdom is the most profound form of ecumenism. What, deeply, does that mean?

This book's thin conceptual framework should be mildly lamented, though not so much as to underestimate its real achievement. Royal has provided a wealth of factual material and for that we should be grateful.

Lawrence S. Cunningham teaches theology at the University of Notre Dame.