Latest news with #martyr
Daily Mail
12-07-2025
- General
- Daily Mail
Church bids to exhume head of Catholic martyr Sir Thomas More - five centuries after it was put on spike when he was executed
Sir Thomas More's head could be exhumed 500 years after it was parboiled and put on a spike on London Bridge. St Dunstan's, an Anglican church in Canterbury, Kent, where the remains of Henry VIII's lord chancellor lie, has launched a bid to have them unearthed and placed in a shrine. More was beheaded at Tower Hill in 1535 after he refused to acknowledge the monarch as head of the church following Henry's break from Rome. His body was buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula at the Tower of London, but his head was taken from the scaffold and put on a spike on London Bridge. Amid fears More's head would be thrown in the Thames, his daughter Margaret Roper rescued it and reportedly kept it in spices for the rest of her life. It was then buried with her and transferred to the Roper family grave at St Dunstan's in 1578, where it has been kept in a vault behind metal bars ever since. More was declared a martyr by the Vatican in 1935 - meaning his remains are now considered a holy relic in the Catholic Church. According to The Times, St Dunstan's is seeking to exhume More's remains in time for the 500th anniversary of his death in 2035. However, the church will need to get permission from the commissary court in Canterbury before any work can go ahead. It is understood that the congregants at St Dunstan's church were told about the plans last Sunday. A statement read: 'What the [parochial church council] PCC has agreed, subject to all the right permissions being granted, is to exhume and conserve what remains of the relic, which will take several years to dry out and stabilise. 'We could just put it back in the vault, maybe in a reliquary of some kind, or we could place the reliquary in some sort of shrine or carved stone pillar above ground in the Roper chapel, which is what many of our visitors have requested. We'd really appreciate your ideas and thoughts.' Thomas More was a lawyer, philosopher and statesman who served as Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII. He is best known for his opposition to Henry VIII's break from the Catholic Church. More refused to recognise the king as head of the Church of England, leading to his execution for treason. He was canonised as a saint in 1935. Historically, More was both devout and intellectual, known for his wit and integrity. However, he actively persecuted Protestants, defending the execution of heretics in The Confutation Of Tyndale's Answer: 'And for heretics, as they be... the clergy doth denounce them. And as they be well worthy, the temporalty doth burn them.' Yet More's kindness in his private life was also noted by his contemporaries. Erasmus, a close friend, described More as gentle and loving, and said his refusal to take the oath was a principled stand.
The Independent
08-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Catholics in Congo honor an anti-corruption martyr newly beatified by the Vatican
The remains of a Congolese customs worker who was killed for resisting a bribe and recently beatified by the Vatican were transferred from a public cemetery to a cathedral in Congo's eastern city of Goma during a special Mass on Tuesday. Hundreds of Catholic faithful gathered at Saint Joseph Cathedral to pay tribute to Floribert Bwana Chui Bin Kositi, who was kidnapped and killed in 2007 by unidentified assailants after he refused to allow rancid rice from neighboring Rwanda to be transported across the border. The Vatican beatified Kositi during a ceremony in Rome. Pope Francis recognized him as a martyr of the faith late last year, setting him on the path to beatification and to possibly becoming Congo's first saint. It fit Francis' broader understanding of martyr as a social justice concept, allowing those deemed to have been killed for doing God's work and following the Gospel to be considered for sainthood. In the conflict-battered city of Goma, where years of war have increased both desperation and corruption, Kositi's beatification has eased some of the pain caused by his death. Some wore shirts and colorful traditional dresses with Kositi's portrait and chanted. Others waved flags that read 'martyr of honesty and moral integrity.' Aline Minani, a close friend of Kositi, said the beatification was deeply meaningful to the local community. 'We now have a spokesperson, someone who can testify for us, who speaks on our behalf to God, so that we may experience the joy of the dream Floribert had: to see everyone gathered at the same table,' Minani said. She described the ceremony as a moment of profound collective emotion: 'We are all celebrating with a feeling of gratitude. There's so much emotion for us, and it feels like there's a glimmer of hope for our region and our country. Today, we are celebrating a Congolese Blessed from our own city, and that fills our hearts with joy.' Marie Juudi, also present at the Mass, said she encourages young people in Goma and across Congo to follow Kositi's example. 'He rejected corruption in order to save lives. Our country continues to struggle with development because of widespread corruption and dishonesty," she said. Archbishop Fulgence Muteba Mugalu of Lubumbashi, who also serves as president of the Congolese bishops' conference, called the beatification 'a powerful wake-up call" for people to get involved in the fight against corruption. He said it also carries a message of hope. 'No matter how serious the challenges are that we face today, we must build peace, and peace is something we must build together,' Muteba said. Eastern Congo has been wracked by conflict with more than 100 armed groups, the most potent backed by Rwanda, that have killed millions since the 1990s. The fighting escalated earlier this year when the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels advanced and seized Goma, followed by another strategic city, Bukavu. Corneille Nangaa, the leader of the Congo River Alliance that includes the M23, was present at the Mass. ___ Banchereau reported from Dakar, Senegal.
BBC News
22-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
The annual journey of a Roman Catholic saint's 440-year-old hand
Early 17th century England was a dangerous place to be member of the Roman Catholic faith. The religion was outlawed, and priests such as Edmund Arrowsmith paid the ultimate price for their beliefs. Knowing he would be tortured and executed if he held masses, he travelled the north-west of England on on horseback and in heavy was killed in 1628, but to this day, Catholics in the region have a lasting reminder of him - his mummified hand. It rests inside a small, glass-domed case and is often transported between the St Oswald and Edmund Arrowsmith church in Ashton-in-Makerfield, near Wigan, to the picturesque Arrowsmith cottage in the Lancashire village of Brindle. The man charged with the responsibility for the unusual cargo is Canon John Gorman, parish priest in Ashton-In-Makerfield. "I feel like I am the custodian of his legacy and it is a very big responsibility," he says. Fr Gorman, a canon of Liverpool Archdiocese, recently celebrated Mass in the upper room in Brindle where Arrowsmith said his last Mass. Every year, on the anniversary of his execution, hundreds of Catholics flock to the church that bears Arrowsmith's is said and parishioners have the chance to be blessed with the hand. The next day, the hand is sometimes taken to St Joseph's RC Church Brindle, and worshippers there retrace Arrowsmith's last ride with a walk over the marshland where he was eventually captured as he was thrown from his horse while trying to escape his commemoration culminates with a Mass in St Joseph' this year's ceremony could be the last, as the church is threatened with closure. Arrowsmith was born in 1585 and was steeped in Catholic parents were jailed and his uncle, Fr John Gerard, once escaped from the Tower Of Arrowsmith's capture he was hanged until nearly unconscious before being cut down and dragged through the streets of Lancaster on a was then quartered and his body parts displayed to scare others from defying King Charles I. Devotees would salvage these relics, and they were passed down through the was how the hand of Arrowsmith - one of the 40 English martyrs canonised by Pope Paul VI in 1970 - came to be in Ashton-in-Makerfield."We are not likely to be executed for our faith, but what we believe is not popular in the current climate," says Fr Gorman. "We all have to have the same fidelity of St Edmund." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
The Independent
16-06-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Customs worker killed for refusing bribe could be Congo's first saint
The Vatican has beatified a Congolese customs worker who was killed for refusing a bribe, offering young people in a country rife with corruption a new symbol of holiness. Cardinal Marcello Semeraro, the head of the Vatican's saint-making office, presided over the beatification ceremony for Floribèrt Bwana Chui Bin Kositi at St. Paul Outside the Walls, one of Rome's basilicas, on Sunday. The event attracted Congolese pilgrims and much of Rome's Congolese Catholic community. They will also attend a special audience on Monday with Pope Leo XIV. Mr Kositi was kidnapped and killed in 2007after he refused to allow rancid rice from Rwanda to be transported across the border to Goma, a city in eastern Congo. As an official with the Congolese government's customs quality control office, the 26-year-old was aware of the dangers of resisting bribes offered to public officials. However, he also recognised the dangers of allowing spoiled food to be distributed to the most vulnerable. 'On that day, those mafiosi found themselves in front of a young man who, in the name of the Gospel, said 'No.' He opposed,' his friend Aline Manani said. "Floribèrt, I think that for me personally, I would say for all young people, is a role model.' Pope Francis recognised Mr Kositi as a martyr of the faith in late 2024, setting him on the path to beatification and to possibly become Congo's first saint. The move fit into the pope's broader understanding of martyr as a social justice concept, allowing those deemed to have been killed for doing God's work and following the Gospel to be considered for sainthood. 'Our country almost holds the gold medal for corruption among the countries of the world," Goma Bishop Willy Ngumbi told reporters. "Here, corruption is truly endemic. So, if we could at least learn from this boy's life that we must all fight corruption … I think that would be very important.' Transparency International in 2024 gave Congo one of the poorest marks on its corruption perception index, ranking it 163 out of 180 countries surveyed and 20 on the organisation's 0-100 scale, with 0 highly corrupt and 100 very clean. The beatification has brought joy to Goma at a time of anguish. Violent fighting between government forces and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels has led to the death of thousands of people and the rebels' capture of the city has exacerbated what already was one of the world's biggest humanitarian crises. It has renewed the hopes of many in the country of more than 100 million people whose development has been stifled by chronic corruption, which Francis railed about during his 2023 visit to the country. Speaking at the Kinshasa stadium then, Francis said Mr Kositi 'could easily have turned a blind eye; nobody would have found out, and he might even have gotten ahead as a result. But since he was a Christian, he prayed. He thought of others and he chose to be honest, saying no to the filth of corruption'. The Italian priest who spearheaded Mr Kositi's sainthood case, the Rev. Francesco Tedeschi, knew him through their work with the Saint'Egidio Community. He broke down on Saturday as he recounted Mr Kositi's example and Francis's call for the church to recognise the ordinary holiness in the 'saints next door'. 'In the end, this was what Floribert was, because he was just a boy,' Rev. Tedeschi said as he began weeping. Mr Kositi's decision to not accept the spoiled food was inspired by the Christian idea of the dignity of everyone, especially the poor, Rev. Tedeschi said. Being declared a martyr exempts Mr Kositi from the requirement that a miracle must be attributed to his intercession before he is beatified, thereby fast-tracking the process to get to the first step of sainthood. The Vatican must, however, confirm a miracle attributed to his intercession for him to be canonised, a process that can take years or more.
LBCI
13-06-2025
- Politics
- LBCI
Iran armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri killed in Israel attack: state TV
Iran's armed forces chief of staff Mohammad Bagheri was killed Friday during Israeli attacks that hit multiple cities, including the capital, state television reported. "Major General Mohammad Bagheri, chief of staff of the armed forces, was martyred," the broadcaster said. AFP
