Pope Leo XIV on Sunday presided over an ecumenical service at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls to remember Christians killed for their faith in the 21st century.

The “Ecumenical Commemoration of the Martyrs and Witnesses of the Faith of the 21st Century,” held Sept. 14 on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, brought together representatives of 24 Christian traditions. The liturgy included testimonies from modern martyrs and prayers for unity across denominations.

Missionaries murdered in Africa, worshippers killed in the Easter bombings of April 21, 2019, in Sri Lanka, victims of sectarian conflict in the Middle East and North Africa, and Christians slain by drug cartels in Latin America were remembered. Andrea Riccardi, vice president of the commission and founder of the Sant’Egidio Community, said Sub-Saharan Africa remains “the continent where more Christians die than anywhere else.”

The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) was represented by the Rev. Dr. Hanns Lessing, executive secretary for communion and theology.

“The commemoration of people who have been killed for their Christian witness is a mark of a confessing church,” Lessing said. “The Confession of Belhar, drafted during the most challenging period in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, calls Christians to confess their faith in word and deed, even if it is dangerous. As Reformed Christians, we agree with Cardinal Kurt Koch when he said that in the blood of martyrs, the church is already one.”

Tara Curlewis, WCRC’s ecumenical liaison in Rome, said the service highlighted both grief and unity.

“Across the globe, too many Christians are killed because of their Christian faith,” Curlewis said. “This ecumenical service recognizing the 21st century Christian martyrs is significant as it also acknowledges that Orthodox, Catholic, and Reformed Christians all have their share of martyrs. Christians martyred for supporting the marginalized, or advocating for justice and even killed while attending church.

“I am still deeply moved by the 2015 martyrdom of Mathew Ayairga, a migrant worker in Libya from Chad, who was killed with 20 Coptic Christians. His Christian witness was put plainly: ‘Their God is my God.’ This ecumenical service is a small witness to the unity we have in Jesus Christ and our shared loss in the lives of the martyrs.”

The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints and its Commission for New Martyrs–Witnesses of the Faith organized the commemoration. Pope Francis established the commission in July 2023 to document and preserve the memory of contemporary martyrs across denominations.

The service recalled a Jubilee Year 2000 commemoration at the Colosseum led by Pope John Paul II to honor 20th-century martyrs, extending the remembrance into the 21st century.