If we know Fr Jacques Hamel is a martyr, we should be praying to him. If we don’t, then we should be praying for him. These are the very practical consequences of a theological question which came to the fore last week: what makes a martyr?
To the secular mind, it may seem perverse to respond to a brutal terrorist murder by quibbling about theology. But Catholics have always held martyrs in high esteem. As an act of perfect charity, martyrdom sends the victim straight to heaven.
In the 1st century AD, Ignatius of Antioch wrote to his fellow-Christians and begged them not to save him from his impending martyrdom: “I beseech of you not to show an unseasonable goodwill towards me,” he said. In a reference to the Romans’ preferred method of execution, he added: “Allow me to become food for the wild beasts.”
