Priest calls people killed in SC martyrs

[Adonia]

I was attending Mass yesterday while visiting Atlanta and in his homily the priest called those people killed in Charleston “martyrs”. I had not thought of that before, but I believe he was right. Here we had people who were studying the Word of God and into their church walked an evil human being and killed them. It seems that not only did he kill them because they were black, but he went specifically into a Christian house of worship to do what he did.

 

[MaryT777]

I never thought of those murdered as being martyrs but it certainly makes sense. What a terrible tragedy. May those that died rest in peace and the God of all comfort be with grieving family and friends.

Mary.

 

[Pat_Payne]

As much as I hope and pray that those nine souls are resting in glory in the Beatific Vision, they cannot strictly be called martyrs in the Catholic sense. The gunman didn’t kill them out of hatred for the faith but out of hatred for their race. He picked that church as a prime opportunity to kill black people, not specifically Christians – he wanted at first to go to a black college and commit his murders, but there was too much security there for him to do it.

 

[Neofight]

They welcomed this person into their study of the word, and for that reason died the death of martyrs.

 

[drforjc]

As much as I hope and pray that those nine souls are resting in glory in the Beatific Vision, they cannot strictly be called martyrs in the Catholic sense. The gunman didn’t kill them out of hatred for the faith but out of hatred for their race. He picked that church as a prime opportunity to kill black people, not specifically Christians – he wanted at first to go to a black college and commit his murders, but there was too much security there for him to do it.

I agree. It doesn’t sound like it was done out of hatred for the faith, but out of hatred for the race.

May they rest in peace.

 

[thistle]

I was attending Mass yesterday while visiting Atlanta and in his homily the priest called those people killed in Charleston “martyrs”. I had not thought of that before, but I believe he was right. Here we had people who were studying the Word of God and into their church walked an evil human being and killed them. It seems that not only did he kill them because they were black, but he went specifically into a Christian house of worship to do what he did.

He killed them because they were black and not because they were Christian.