XVII Faith
The Martyrs
Those who gave their lives for Christ — from St Stephen outside the walls of Jerusalem to our own day, on every continent.
Photo: Caravaggio · Public domain
What is a martyr?
Witnesses unto blood
The word martyr means witness. A martyr bears witness to Christ, who died and rose, even unto death: united to him by charity, the martyr endures death with fortitude rather than deny the truth of the faith (Catechism 2473).
From the beginning the Church has carefully gathered the records of those who persevered to the end in witnessing to their faith — the acts of the martyrs (Catechism 2474). This page shows only martyrs whom the Church has declared saints or blessed.
“Martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith.”
“The blood of Christians is seed.”
- 49martyrs and groups of martyrs
- 39canonised saints
- 10blessed
- 25countries
I1st century
The first witnesses
Stephen, Peter and Paul and the first Christians of Rome
c. 36
Saint Stephen, the First Martyr
Venerated as a saint since the early Church
One of the seven deacons chosen to help the Apostles. Brought before the Sanhedrin and stoned outside Jerusalem, he died praying for those who killed him, while young Saul looked on.
- Feast
- 26 December
- Resting place
- Basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, Rome
64
The First Martyrs of the Holy Roman Church
Venerated as a saint since the early Church
The Christians of Rome whom Nero falsely blamed for the great fire of July 64. Many were tortured and put to death; the Church remembers them the day after Peter and Paul.
- Feast
- 30 June
c. 64–67
Saints Peter and Paul, Apostles
Venerated as a saint since the early Church
Both Apostles gave their lives in Rome under Nero: Peter was crucified on the Vatican Hill, Paul beheaded on the road to Ostia. The two great basilicas of Rome stand over their tombs.
- Feast
- 29 June
- Resting place
- St Peter's Basilica (Peter) and St Paul Outside the Walls (Paul), Rome
II2nd–4th century
The age of persecution
Bishops, philosophers, slaves and young women of the Roman Empire
c. 107
Saint Ignatius of Antioch
Venerated as a saint since the early Church
Bishop of Antioch, taken to Rome in chains under Trajan. On the journey he wrote seven letters, the first to call the Church “catholic”, before he was thrown to the wild beasts.
- Feast
- 17 October
- Resting place
- Basilica of San Clemente, Rome
c. 155
Saint Polycarp
Venerated as a saint since the early Church
Bishop of Smyrna and a disciple of St John the Evangelist. Condemned to the stake, he was finally killed by the sword when the fire did not harm him.
- Feast
- 23 February
c. 165
Saint Justin Martyr
Venerated as a saint since the early Church
A philosopher from Samaria who found the truth in Christ and taught it in Rome — the greatest of the second-century apologists. He was beheaded with six companions about 165.
- Feast
- 1 June
177
Saints Pothinus, Blandina and the Martyrs of Lyon
Venerated as a saint since the early Church
In 177 the Church of Lyon lost some forty-eight of its members. Among them were its first bishop, Pothinus, aged about ninety, and the slave girl Blandina, the last of them to die in the amphitheatre.
- Feast
- 2 June
203
Saints Perpetua and Felicity
Venerated as a saint since the early Church
A young noblewoman nursing her baby and a pregnant slave, martyred together in the arena of Carthage in 203. A diary attributed to Perpetua tells of their last days in prison.
- Feast
- 7 March
c. 251
Saint Agatha
Venerated as a saint since the early Church
A young Sicilian woman who would not give up her faith under the persecution of Decius. Tortured on the governor’s orders, she died in prison at Catania in 251.
- Feast
- 5 February
- Resting place
- Catania Cathedral
258
Saint Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr
Venerated as a saint since the early Church
Deacon of the Church of Rome, put to death four days after Pope Sixtus II in Valerian’s persecution of 258. Tradition says he died on a gridiron; he rests beneath his basilica on the Via Tiburtina.
- Feast
- 10 August
- Resting place
- Basilica of San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, Rome
258
Saint Cyprian of Carthage
Venerated as a saint since the early Church
A lawyer of Carthage who became its bishop soon after his conversion and guided the Church through the crisis of those who had denied the faith under persecution. He was martyred in 258.
- Feast
- 16 September
c. 304
Saint Agnes
Venerated as a saint since the early Church
A young Roman girl who refused marriage for the sake of Christ and was killed for her faith, probably in Diocletian’s persecution. She rests in the basilica built over her grave on the Via Nomentana.
- Feast
- 21 January
- Resting place
- Basilica of Sant'Agnese fuori le mura, Rome
304
Saint Lucy
Venerated as a saint since the early Church
Born in Syracuse and martyred there in 304. Her name means light, and she is invoked for the eyes; her body has been kept in Venice for some eight centuries.
- Feast
- 13 December
- Resting place
- San Geremia, Venice
III8th–12th century
Missionaries and kings
Apostles of the peoples of Europe, and rulers who died for the faith
754
Saint Boniface
Venerated as a saint since the early Church
The English monk who became the Apostle of Germany. Attacked by pagans at Dokkum in 754 as he was about to celebrate Mass, he told his companions not to fight back.
- Feast
- 5 June
- Resting place
- Fulda Cathedral
935
Saint Wenceslaus
Venerated as a saint since the early Church
Duke of Bohemia who worked to make his people Christian, murdered by his own brother in 935. He lies in St Vitus Cathedral in Prague and is the principal patron of the Czech nation.
- Feast
- 28 September
- Resting place
- St Vitus Cathedral, Prague
997
Saint Adalbert of Prague
Canonisation: 999 · Pope Sylvester II
Bishop of Prague who went as a missionary to the pagan Prussians and was killed on the Baltic coast in 997. Ransomed by the Polish duke, his body rests in Gniezno Cathedral.
- Feast
- 23 April
- Resting place
- Gniezno Cathedral
1030
Saint Olav
Venerated as a saint since the early Church
King of Norway who made the Christian faith the foundation of his realm. He fell in the battle of Stiklestad in 1030 and was venerated as a martyr a year later; Nidaros Cathedral rose over his grave.
- Feast
- 29 July
- Resting place
- Nidaros Cathedral, Trondheim (relics lost)
1079
Saint Stanislaus
Canonisation: 1253 · Pope Innocent IV
Bishop of Kraków who rebuked King Bolesław II and was killed by him in 1079 while celebrating Mass. Canonised in 1253, he was the first canonised Pole and is a patron of Poland.
- Feast
- 11 April
- Resting place
- Wawel Cathedral, Kraków
1086
Saint Canute (Knud IV)
Canonisation: 1101 · Pope Paschal II
King of Denmark, killed in 1086 with his brother and seventeen companions in the Church of St Alban in Odense after a revolt. His relics lie in the crypt of St Canute’s Cathedral.
- Feast
- 10 July
- Resting place
- St Canute's Cathedral, Odense
1170
Saint Thomas Becket
Canonisation: 1173 · Pope Alexander III
Archbishop of Canterbury who defended the freedom of the Church against King Henry II. Four knights cut him down in his own cathedral in 1170; the Pope canonised him only three years later.
- Feast
- 29 December
IV16th–17th century
A divided Europe
Those who would not deny the Pope or the Eucharist
1535
Saints John Fisher and Thomas More
Canonisation: 1935 · Pope Pius XI
John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester, and Thomas More would not accept Henry VIII’s claim to supremacy over the Church in England. Both were beheaded on Tower Hill in the summer of 1535.
- Feast
- 22 June
- Resting place
- St Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London
1535–1679
The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales
Canonisation: 1970 · Pope Paul VI
Forty priests, religious and lay people — among them Edmund Campion and Margaret Clitherow — who died for the Catholic faith in England and Wales between 1535 and 1679. Paul VI canonised them together in 1970.
- Feast
- 25 October
1572
The Martyrs of Gorkum
Canonisation: 1867 · Pope Pius IX
Nineteen priests and religious, eleven of them Franciscans, hanged at Brielle in 1572 because they would not deny the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist or the primacy of the Pope.
- Feast
- 9 July
- Resting place
- Church of St Nicholas, Brussels
1681
Saint Oliver Plunkett
Canonisation: 1975 · Pope Paul VI
Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, hanged, drawn and quartered at Tyburn in 1681. In 1975 he became the first new Irish saint in almost seven hundred years; his head is venerated in Drogheda.
- Feast
- 1 July
- Resting place
- St Peter's Church, Drogheda (head)
V16th–19th century
To the ends of the earth
Japan, the Philippines, America, Korea, Vietnam, China, Oceania and Africa
1597
Saint Paul Miki and Companions (Martyrs of Japan)
Canonisation: 1862 · Pope Pius IX
The Japanese Jesuit Paul Miki and twenty-five companions — missionaries, catechists and boys of twelve and thirteen — crucified at Nagasaki in 1597. From his cross Miki preached and forgave his persecutors.
- Feast
- 6 February
1633–1637
Saint Lorenzo Ruiz and Companions
Canonisation: 1987 · Pope John Paul II
A Filipino husband and father and fifteen companions of the Dominican family, martyred in and around Nagasaki between 1633 and 1637. Lorenzo Ruiz is the first canonised saint of the Philippines.
- Feast
- 28 September
1642–1649
Saints John de Brébeuf, Isaac Jogues and Companions (North American Martyrs)
Canonisation: 1930 · Pope Pius XI
Six French Jesuit priests, a Jesuit brother and a layman, killed between 1642 and 1649 while bringing the Gospel to the Huron-Wendat and Iroquois peoples. They are co-patrons of Canada.
- Feast
- 19 October
- Resting place
- Relics at the Martyrs' Shrine, Midland, Ontario; Brébeuf's and Lalemant's bones were taken to Quebec City
1745–1862
Saint Andrew Dũng-Lạc and Companions (Martyrs of Vietnam)
Canonisation: 1988 · Pope John Paul II
One hundred and seventeen martyrs — Vietnamese priests and lay people with Spanish and French missionaries — killed between 1745 and 1862. Andrew Dũng-Lạc, a Vietnamese priest, was beheaded in Hanoi in 1839.
- Feast
- 24 November
1841
Saint Peter Chanel
Canonisation: 1954 · Pope Pius XII
A French Marist priest killed on the island of Futuna in 1841, the first martyr of Oceania. Within a few years of his death the whole island had become Catholic.
- Feast
- 28 April
- Resting place
- Church at Poi, Futuna (major relics returned 1977, skull 1985)
19th century
Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Paul Chŏng Ha-sang and Companions (Martyrs of Korea)
Canonisation: 1984 · Pope John Paul II
One hundred and three of the martyrs of a Church founded by lay people, among them Korea’s first priest, Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, and the lay apostle Paul Chŏng Ha-sang. John Paul II canonised them in Seoul in 1984.
- Feast
- 20 September
- Resting place
- Relics in Seoul's martyrs' shrines, incl. the crypt of Jeoldusan Martyrs' Shrine
1885–1886
Saint Charles Lwanga and Companions (Martyrs of Uganda)
Canonisation: 1964 · Pope Paul VI
Charles Lwanga, head of the royal pages, and twenty-one Catholic companions, killed by King Mwanga in 1885–86; most were burned alive at Namugongo. Anglican Christians died with them.
- Feast
- 3 June
1648–1930
Saint Augustine Zhao Rong and Companions (Martyrs of China)
Canonisation: 2000 · Pope John Paul II
One hundred and twenty martyrs who died in China between 1648 and 1930 — most of them Chinese, eighty-six of them in the Boxer uprising of 1900. Augustine Zhao Rong was the first Chinese priest to die for the faith.
- Feast
- 9 July
VI18th–20th century
Revolution and persecution
The Carmelites of Compiègne and the martyrs of Mexico
1794
The Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne
Canonisation: 2024 · Pope Francis
Sixteen Carmelites of Compiègne, driven from their monastery by the Revolution, who had offered their lives for peace for the Church and France. They went to the guillotine in Paris in July 1794.
- Feast
- 17 July
- Resting place
- Common grave, Picpus Cemetery, Paris
Early 20th century
Saint Christopher Magallanes and Companions (Cristero Martyrs)
Canonisation: 2000 · Pope John Paul II
Cristóbal Magallanes and twenty-four companions, most of them priests, who kept up their ministry during the religious persecution in Mexico and were killed for it, forgiving their persecutors.
- Feast
- 21 May
1927
Blessed Miguel Agustín Pro
Beatification: 1988 · Pope John Paul II
A Mexican Jesuit who brought the sacraments in secret to Catholics during the persecution. He was shot without trial in Mexico City in 1927, before a crowd the government had called to watch.
- Resting place
- Church of the Holy Family, Mexico City
1928
Saint José Sánchez del Río
Canonisation: 2016 · Pope Francis
A fourteen-year-old boy from Sahuayo who joined the Cristeros, refused every offer to save his life by renouncing his faith, and was killed in February 1928 crying “Viva Cristo Rey!”.
- Resting place
- Parish church of Santiago Apóstol, Sahuayo, Michoacán
VII1930s
Spain in the 1930s
The religious persecution before and during the Civil War
1930s
498 Martyrs of the Religious Persecution in Spain
Beatification: 2007 · Pope Benedict XVI
Four hundred and ninety-eight martyrs of the religious persecution in Spain in the 1930s — bishops, priests, religious and lay people — beatified together in Rome in 2007.
- Feast
- 6 November
1930s
522 Martyrs of the Twentieth Century in Spain (beatified in Tarragona, 2013)
Beatification: 2013 · Pope Francis
Five hundred and twenty-two priests, religious and lay people killed for their faith in the Spanish Civil War, beatified in Tarragona in 2013 in the largest beatification ever held in Spain.
- Feast
- 6 November
1936
Blessed Claretian Martyrs of Barbastro (51)
Beatification: 1992 · Pope John Paul II
Fifty-one Claretians of the seminary of Barbastro, most of them young students, shot in August 1936. Offered their lives if they renounced their faith, they refused.
- Feast
- 13 August
- Resting place
- Crypt of the Claretian Martyrs Museum, Barbastro
VIII20th century
Under the dictatorships
Witnesses who would not bow to Nazism or Communism
1941
Saint Maximilian Kolbe
Canonisation: 1982 · Pope John Paul II
The Franciscan friar who, at Auschwitz, offered to die in place of a father condemned to the starvation bunker. He was killed there in August 1941; John Paul II named him a martyr.
- Feast
- 14 August
1942
Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)
Canonisation: 1998 · Pope John Paul II
Edith Stein, a Jewish philosopher who became a Catholic and a Carmelite, was seized in the Netherlands after the bishops protested against the persecution of the Jews and died at Auschwitz in 1942.
- Feast
- 9 August
1942
Saint Titus Brandsma
Canonisation: 2022 · Pope Francis
A Dutch Carmelite priest and professor who upheld the bishops’ order that Catholic papers must refuse Nazi propaganda. Arrested in 1942, he was killed at Dachau the same year.
- Feast
- 27 July
1943
Blessed Franz Jägerstätter
Beatification: 2007 · Pope Benedict XVI
An Austrian farmer, husband and father who refused on grounds of faith to fight in Hitler’s army. He was beheaded in 1943; the Church beatified him as a martyr in 2007.
- Feast
- 21 May
- Resting place
- St Radegund, Upper Austria
20th century (Nazi and Soviet persecution)
Blessed Nicholas (Mykola) Charnetsky and Companions, Martyrs of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
Beatification: 2001 · Pope John Paul II
Bishop Mykola Charnetsky and twenty-four companions — bishops, priests, sisters and a layman of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church — who died under the Nazi and Soviet regimes. John Paul II beatified them in Lviv in 2001.
- Feast
- 27 June
1984
Blessed Jerzy Popiełuszko
Beatification: 2010 · Pope Benedict XVI
A Polish priest close to the Solidarity movement who would not bow to the communist authorities. Security Service agents abducted and killed him in 1984 and threw his body into the Vistula.
- Feast
- 19 October
- Resting place
- St Stanislaus Kostka Church, Warsaw
IX1977 to today
Witnesses of our time
Martyrs of Latin America and Africa
1977
Blessed Rutilio Grande, Manuel Solórzano and Nelson Rutilio Lemus
Beatification: 2022 · Pope Francis
A Jesuit priest who preached the Gospel and justice for the poor, killed in 1977 with an elderly catechist and a teenage boy on the road from Aguilares to El Paisnal — the first priest killed in El Salvador’s conflict.
1980
Saint Óscar Romero
Canonisation: 2018 · Pope Francis
Archbishop of San Salvador who raised his voice for the victims of violence. He was shot at the altar while celebrating Mass in 1980 and canonised by Pope Francis in 2018.
- Feast
- 24 March
- Resting place
- Metropolitan Cathedral, San Salvador
1994–1996
Blessed Pierre Claverie and Companions (Martyrs of Algeria)
Beatification: 2018 · Pope Francis
Bishop Pierre Claverie of Oran and eighteen companions, among them the seven monks of Tibhirine, who stayed with the people of Algeria during the civil war and were killed between 1994 and 1996.
- Feast
- 8 May
2007
Blessed Floribert Bwana Chui
Beatification: 2025 · Pope Leo XIV
A young customs officer in Goma and member of the Community of Sant’Egidio who refused bribes to let spoiled food through to the poor. He was abducted and killed in 2007, aged twenty-six.
- Feast
- 8 July
Remember them
Pray with the martyrs
Christians are still persecuted for their faith in many countries. Ask the martyrs to pray for them, and for courage in your own witness — at Mass on their feast day, or at their tombs.
Every martyr on this page was checked against Catholic sources — the Holy See and the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, Vatican News, dioceses, shrines and the Catholic Encyclopedia — and each card links to its source. Places are those of the martyrdom; groups that died in many places are shown at their principal one. Feasts are those of the General Roman Calendar or, where they are not in it, of the local Church or the religious order.