The Vatican will analyze modern crimes against Christians and try to list “all those who have shed their blood” in the name of Christ since the beginning of this century, Pope Francis announced on Wednesday.

In a letter published by the Holy See, Pope Francis specified that he had entrusted this task to the “Commission for New Martyrs – Witnesses of the Faith”, a new working group in the Vatican’s department of sanctification, Reuters and Agerpres reported.

The supreme pontiff’s decision, related to the coming Jubilee Year of Faith in 2025, follows a similar initiative by former Pope John Paul II for the Great Jubilee 2000, and is based on recent concerns about the persecution of Christians around the world. .

“In our time, there are more martyrs than in the first century: they are bishops, priests, men and women who received ordination, lay people and families who, in various countries of the world, gave their lives and made the highest sacrifice as a proof of mercy,” said Pope Francis

In a sign of closeness to other Christian churches, the sovereign pontiff said the new commission would seek to document crimes committed against “all Christian denominations,” not just Catholics.

Pope Francis has renewed his declaration that the “ecumenism of blood” unites persecuted Christians of all faiths and said they will be commemorated in an ecumenical service during the Jubilee Year 2025 – just as it happened in 2000 year

In May, the Vatican leader announced that 21 Orthodox Coptic Christians beheaded by Islamic State in Libya in 2015 had been recognized as Catholic martyrs, and called for religious freedom in China, where religious minorities, including Catholics, have been exterminated. were persecuted for a long time.