Martyrdom: Why martyrs still matter

It was the Roman writer Tertullian who said, 'The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church'.

From its origins, martyrdom has had a particularly honoured place in Christianity. This will be confirmed again in 2020 when the Catholic Church marks the fiftieth anniversary of the canonization of the 40 Catholic Reformation martyrs of England and Wales by Pope Paul VI. The sacrifices of Catholics at the time of the Reformation were matched by those of Anglicans who were also persecuted and e...