Red Martyrdom In Christianity

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, martyrdom is defined as the suffering of death out of obedience to a cause, especially to one's religious faith. But the Greek origin of the word “martyr” sums it up into one word, which is “witness”. In the cases that I will be discussing, the martyrs are witnesses to their faith, to the only true good that exists (God). Within Christianity, there are degrees of martyrdom, even if what we typically think of when we hear the word “martyr” is someone who has been murdered for their beliefs (and refusing to change and/or deny them). One homily, given around the 7th century in Ireland, discusses these degrees of martyrdom. Christian martyrdom gives way to relationship with God, especially when considering

In fact, the first martyr of the Church was recognized as a red martyr. Saint Stephen is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles. He was a deacon in the early Church in Jerusalem who upset a lot of Jewish authority by proclaiming the teachings of Jesus. Jewish authorities accused him of blasphemy and even used false witnesses to accuse him. It’s rather reminiscent of the accusation of Christ, simply showing the imitation of Christ as a pathway to God. Upon his final moments, St. Stephen looks towards the heavens to see them opened, with the “Son of Man standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:56). As he was stoned, Stephen called out to Christ, asking Him to “receive [his] spirit”, and promptly fell asleep. Again, this draws a similarity between Christ’s death and the protomartyr, as well as his reception into

Gianna Beretta Molla. Many classify her as a white martyr because of her deep devotion to her unborn child before her death. When she was pregnant with her fourth child in 1961, Gianna developed a fibroma on her uterus during the second month of pregnancy. After further examination, doctors gave her three options on how to proceed. The first choice was abortion, and direct abortion is forbidden by the Catholic Church as human life is to be protected always (CCC, 2270-1), even though the abortion would save her life and even allow her to continue to have children. The second choice was a complete hysterectomy which would save her life, but leave her incapable of having any more children. In addition, it could have an unintended consequence of her unborn child’s death. Due to the principle of double effect (Aquinas, article 7) this would be allowed, simply because the primary goal is Gianna’s wellbeing and not the death of the child. The third choice was removal of only the fibroma, with the knowledge of further complications with the unborn child’s birth. Gianna Molla opted for the third option, because it had the best chance of preserving her child’s life (Pacholczyk). In April of 1962, Gianna Molla went to the hospital and successfully had her fourth child by Caesarean section. Gianna and her condition, however, soon declined rapidly. She continued to have severe pain, an elevated fever, and a weak pulse. After seven days she died of septic