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Jonas Jonson
Lutheran Bishop, Sweden
In the 20th century, attempts were made to fulfil humanity�s religious and eschatological dreams by ideological and political means. These attempts all failed, were they fascist or Marxist. Little is left of the utopian ideologies, culminating the era of modernity. Now religion is again claiming the hearts and dreams of people, particularly in the Muslim, Hindu and Christian world. Many Christian martyrs of the 20th century were victims of the conflict between secular ideologies and a religious conviction. The witnesses of faith in the 21st century may well be the victims an emerging conflict between religion perverted by political power and an authentic and humble testimony to the Christ, incarnate among the poor and powerless. The 20th century was contradictory and ambiguous. It was marked by Western confidence and scientific progress, and by declarations on human rights. But it was disillusioned by world wars, totalitarian regimes, and appalling injustice. It was claiming democracy and freedom, but feeding oppression, racism and ethnic cleansing. The churches committed themselves ecumenically to each other and to solidarity with the poor, but yielded next to nothing for the sake of unity, peace and justice. The �Christian century� which was announced before World War I, became a century of martyrs. Believers were caught in a cosmic struggle between the utopias of the world and the kingdom of God. They were torn between a (sometimes) treacherous institutional church and a faithful commitment to a life with Jesus in apostolic tradition. Martyrdom was born out of very complex situations and had many dimensions to it. It is us who name the martyrs, not they themselves. It is us who make them models of exemplary Christian life, while they themselves were caught in historical circumstances and given little choise. We do name them witnesses and martyrs aware of the ambiguity of our exercise and conscious of the fact that only God knows the true witnesses of faith. Yet the thousands of Christian martyrs have left a priceless heritage for the 21st century. The vicarious death of Christ for the salvation of the world is at the core of Christian confession. It belongs to the mystery of faith that the church as the body of Christ continuously participates in Christ�s suffering for the sake of the world�s salvation. This participation is at times very visible, at times a more hidden sharing in the cross. When anti-Christian politics triumphed, the martyrdom of God�s people became a faithful and convincing witness to Christ before the world. Where the church itself had given way to the arrogance of power, the martyrs humbly reminded her of what it means to be baptised into the body of Christ. In the early church it was said that the blood of the martyrs was the seed of the church. This is still true, and it remains for us to see the fruits of the 20th century martyrdom grow ripe. Martyrdom is a sharing in Christ�s suffering and death and thereby in the reconciliation and peace he brought about. Like St Paul, the church should rejoice in suffering for the sake of reconciliation, �completing what is lacking in Christ�s afflictions for the sake of his body� (Col 1:24). The 20th century has meant a rediscovery of the ultimate meaning of baptism and of Christian vocation, not through theological reflection but through the actual experience of Christian martyrs. This is a spiritual heritage, which cannot but affect the very understanding of being church. The ecclesiological implications are not yet explored, but there is a critical reminder from the martyrs to self-sufficient church institutions that authentic Christendom means an insecure life on the brink of disaster. Christ offers no other way to new life than through death and ultimate nothingness. The martyrs were grinded into meal and made the bread for the world. This is the calling of the church. The martyrs belong to the whole church of Christ. They came out of all traditions. They had lived their lives as Orthodox, Catholics or Protestants. They had been faithful to their inherited faith. Baptised into the body of the one Christ, they shared in a death like his, and thereby they became witnesses of the visible unity of the church. They can be claimed by no individual tradition, nor must they be remembered and celebrated only by their own people. They belong to the whole church, throughout the ages. The martyrs are in fact the most powerful sign of Christian unity that we have seen. A Christian community, which fosters people to give this ultimate witness to the Lord, cannot be despised by other churches. Our communion, though real, still is incomplete but implies recognition of the authenticity of the others. The communion of the saints and martyrs is both real and complete and should be a permanent source of gratitude and inspiration for all of us. We remember the hundreds of thousands Christian martyrs, and have begun to explore what their life and death means to us and to the church as a whole. But we must also remember people of other faiths and convictions, who were destroyed by evil and who have given their lives for the sake of humanity in the 20th century. For a Christian, the death of Christ is the mirror for interpreting death as an integral dimension of faith. This gives us a deeper understanding of Christian life. It does not, however, explain the mystery of evil, nor does it place a Christian in any privileged position or make his witness a greater contribution to the human course than the faithful witness of anybody else. Christian martyrdom sharpens our eye for our own tradition, but it should also open our hearts for others who have shared in human suffering for the sake of love, justice and peace. The heritage of the 20th century martyrs can help us to become more human and thereby more Christian. We celebrate the witnesses of faith not to exclude others, but to place reconciliation and human dignity at the centre of our vocation.
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