Western martyrs of earlier centuries and today

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Christphr

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Earlier Christians in the Western world were willing to die for their faith as martyrs. Another form of martyrdom was lived too, sometimes called white martyrdom (i.e. separation from the world as a celibate monk or cloistered nun…). The monasteries flourished in Europe and were the heart of the continent.

Why has martyrdom in both forms been so diminished or even absent in the Western world now?
 
One reason is very good.

We aren’t hunted down and killed at the same rate for being Catholic anymore. Religious liberty and all that.
 
I don’t know of any places in the western world today that would actually kill someone for their faith. Freedom of religion tends to be an accepted human right in the west.

As for white martyrdom… I can’t say I really know, but I’ve heard it said “when it’s hard to be a Christian, it’s easy to be a Christian. And when it’s easy to be a Christian, then it’s hard to be a Christian.” I guess life has gotten so comfortable in the west that it’s easy to be distracted, to let God slide down on one’s list of priorities. Perhaps people don’t feel dependent on God if they have everything they need…just a thought.
 
As Kei said, mostly because in the West you can freely practice Christianity without someone trying to feed you to a lion. Not the worst development.
 
Father Hamel in France wasn’t a martyr?

St. Maximilian Kolbe at Auschwitz wasn’t a martyr?

The Catholics killed in the Spanish Civil War and Cristero War weren’t martyrs?
 
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