The tragedy has sparked discussion about whether the children could be regarded as martyrs killed “in hatred of the faith.”
Newsroom (08/09/2025, Gaudium Press )Two children killed in a shooting at a Minneapolis Catholic church last month may be considered for inclusion on a Vatican list of “new martyrs and witnesses of the faith,” experts said on Monday.
Harper Moyski, 10, and Fletcher Merkel, 8, died during a parochial school Mass at Annunciation Catholic Church on Aug. 27. The tragedy has sparked discussion about whether the children could be regarded as martyrs killed “in hatred of the faith.”
Archbishop Fabio Fabene, president of the Vatican Commission of New Martyrs — Witnesses of the Faith, said the commission would evaluate the children’s cases if presented by the local diocese or other ecclesial entities. “If these figures are presented to us as witnesses of the faith, we will examine them and see if we can include them in the list,” Fabene said during a Sept. 8 news conference.
Established by Pope Francis in 2023 under the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, the commission is compiling an archive of Christian martyrs, both Catholic and non-Catholic, killed in the new millennium. The effort aims to preserve the memory of those who died for their faith, distinct from the Church’s formal processes for beatification and canonization. “They are two totally distinct things,” Fabene clarified.
Andrea Riccardi, commission vice president and founder of the Community of Sant’Egidio, emphasized the importance of preserving these stories. “The work of the commission is to keep the names and stories in the heart of the Church, so their memory is not lost,” he said. Inclusion on the list does not equate to beatification, he added.
The comments came during a news conference to announce an ecumenical prayer service to be led by Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 14 at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls. The liturgy, coinciding with the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross and the pope’s 70th birthday, will commemorate 21st-century martyrs and witnesses of the faith. Delegates from 24 Christian churches, including Metropolitan Anthony Sevryuk of the Russian Orthodox Church, will attend.
The event echoes a similar ecumenical liturgy held at the Colosseum during the 2000 Jubilee Year. In preparation for the 2025 Jubilee of Hope, Pope Francis has tasked the commission with updating its catalog of Christians killed for their faith in the first quarter of the 21st century. The list currently includes 1,640 individuals killed under various circumstances of persecution worldwide.
“The heart of this work is memory,” Riccardi said, citing St. John Paul II’s call to ensure the names of those who died for their faith are not forgotten.
- Raju Hasmuhk with files from CNA
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