Martyr of charity

In the Catholic church, a martyr of charity is someone who dies as a result of administering Christian charity. While a martyr of the faith dies through being persecuted for being a Catholic or for being a Christian, a martyr of charity dies through practising charity motivated by Christianity.^[1] This is a form of martyrdom recognised for canonization since Pope John Paul II's canonization of Maximilian Kolbe in 1982.^[2] Earlier martyrs of charity who were canonized were recognized as Confessor of the Faith rather than martyrs.

List of martyrs of charity

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

• Lawrence of Rome,^[3] executed in the Diocletianic persecution after distributing church valuables among the poor instead of to the Emperor.
• Father Damien, contracted leprosy from his patients at Kalaupapa; canonized in 2009
• Maximilian Kolbe,^[2][4] volunteered for fatal collective punishment in Auschwitz; canonized in 1982
• Everard Mercurian, died ministering in an influenza epidemic in 1580.
• Edward Metcalfe, died ministering in an epidemic in Leeds in 1847.^[5]
• Benjamin Petit, died travelling as a missionary to the Potawatomi in 1839
• Bernardo Tolomei, died ministering in a plague epidemic in 1348; canonized in 2009^[6]
• Sára Salkaházi, executed for sheltering Jews from the Holocaust; beatified in 2006
• Aloysius Gonzaga, died while ministering to victims of a plague in Rome in 1591. Canonized in 1726.
• Ezechiele Ramin, died in 1985 while defending the rights of the farmers and the Suruí natives of the Rondônia area (Brazil).

References

1. ^ Weigel, George (30 May 2008). "Navy SEAL, "Martyr of Charity?"". The Catholic Difference. Ethics and Public Policy Center. http://www.eppc.org/programs/catholicstudies/publications/pubID.3410,programID.16/pub_detail.asp. Retrieved 2009-10-12. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Peterson, Anna Lisa (1997). Martyrdom and the politics of religion: progressive Catholicism in El Salvador's civil war. SUNY Press. pp. 94. ISBN 0791431819. http://books.google.ie/books?id=4w1S4Fr7w6UC&lpg=PA94&dq=%22martyr%20of%20charity%22&as_brr=3&pg=PA94#v=onepage&q=%22martyr%20of%20charity%22&f=false. 
3. ^ González Nieves, Roberto O. (19 February 2000). "The Permanent Diaconate: its Identity, Functions, and Prospects.". Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cclergy/documents/jub_deacons_20000219_nieves_en.html. Retrieved 2009-10-12. 
4. ^ John Paul II (15 August 2001). "Angelus: Solemnity of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary". Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/angelus/2001/documents/hf_jp-ii_ang_20010815_en.html. Retrieved 2009-10-12. 
5. ^ MacErlean, A. (1911). "Edward Metcalfe". The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10234b.htm. Retrieved 11 October 2009. 
6. ^ "Bernardo Tolomei (1272-1348)". Vatican. http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/saints/2009/ns_lit_doc_20090426_tolomei_en.html. Retrieved 2009-10-12.