Catholic martyrs
Killed for belief
Catholic martyrs are people recognized by the Catholic Church as having died for their faith—executed for refusing to renounce Christianity, killed while performing religious duties, or murdered for defending Church teachings.
The Church honors them as saints who chose death over apostasy.
The English Catholic martyrs were executed under Henry VIII and Elizabeth I.
The term applies broadly across centuries, from early Christians killed in Roman persecutions to modern missionaries murdered in hostile territories.
- SacrificeSurrendering something valued
- Saint StephenChristianity's first martyr
- sainthoodState of being canonized
- witnessOne who attests
- intercessionActing on another's behalf
hagiography · beatification · passion plays · English Reformation · eternal reward · feast days · palm branch · holy relics · crown of thorns · relics · religious poetry · Colosseum · catacombs · canonization
Catholic martyrsapostates
Those who abandon belief
survivors · defectors · confessors · escapees
Catholic martyrspersecutors
Those who cruelly harass
inquisitors · executioners · torturers · Thomas Cromwell · Elizabeth I
Catholic, martyr, martyrs, martyrdom, martyred, martyring, martyrize, martyrization