Salvadoran martyrs: A love that does justice (Catholicism, Christian martyrdom)

Who are today's martyrs? Many Salvadorans call Archbishop Romero and the Je suits and the two women killed at Central American University martyrs. Shou ld they be numbered among the martyrs of the church? The author contends th at it would be fitting for the Catholic Church to do so, based on the conte mporary church teaching on martyrdom. Tracing the origin the development of the notion of Christian martyrdom from the New Testament to the present da y, the author shows how Thomas Aquinas, the Second Vatican Council, Karl Ra hner, and Pope John Paul II have contributed to the enlargement of the conc ept of the Christian martyr that fittingly describes the Salvadoran witness es. Moved by love of God and neighbor, the martyr courageously endures deat h for bearing witness to the Christian faith that includes speaking the tru th and doing justice.