The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin, recalls the sacrifices made by St Oliver Plunkett, who was born 400 years ago in 1625, as well as those of the Columban Martyrs, and considers what their witness can say to us in this Jubilee Year.
The final words of the late Pope Francis, delivered on Easter Sunday morning, are certain to reverberate for the remainder of this Jubilee Year of Hope: “Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Easter! Christ is risen, alleluia! Jesus is not in the tomb, he is alive! Love has triumphed over hatred, light over darkness and truth over falsehood. Forgiveness has triumphed over revenge”.
His words are all the more poignant given that within 24 hours, Pope Francis had “returned to the house of the Father”. His amazing resilience during his final illness was a powerful witness to Christian Hope in the face of suffering and death.
In the papal bull, Spes non Confundit (Hope does not disappoint), by which Pope Francis announced the Jubilee Year 2025, the late Holy Father remarked that the most convincing testimony to Christian Hope is provided by the martyrs.
He explained that “steadfast in their faith in the risen Christ, (the martyrs) renounced life itself here below, rather than betray their Lord”. That is why, he added, “we need to treasure their testimony, in order to confirm our hope and allow it to bear good fruit”.
We are blessed to commemorate in Ireland this Jubilee Year the outstanding witness of some of our own martyrs: St Oliver Plunkett, born 400 years ago in 1625 and canonised 50 years ago in 1975; the Columban missionaries martyred at Malate in the Philippines 80 years ago in 1945; and the Columban martyrs who gave their lives in Korea 75 years ago in 1950. We are accustomed to referring to martyrs as people who died for the faith. I like to think of these Irish jubilee martyrs as people who both lived and died for faith, hope and love.
St Oliver Plunkett showed immense courage in the face of adversity. He unapologetically proclaimed the Gospel in spite of continued threats to his life. His episcopal ministry took place in the context of ongoing persecution and direct opposition, but still he fearlessly persevered in administering the sacraments, educating the young, reforming the Church and ordaining and forming clergy.
St Oliver Plunkett on the cover of a special commemorative booklet marking the 400th anniversary of the birth of the Archbishop of Armagh, who was martyred at Tyburn Cross on 1st July 1681.
He endured the ignominy of prolonged imprisonment at the Tower of London, followed by unjust condemnation to death. In the end he suffered the ultimate humiliation, dragged through the crowded streets of London before he was publicly hung, drawn and quartered at Tyburn Cross.
Still, Archbishop Oliver never lost hope in a heavenly homeland. With unstinting faith in the Risen Lord, he proclaimed from the gallows, Christ-like love and forgiveness for those who had plotted against him.
Likewise, the Columban martyrs of Malate and Korea were models of faith, hope and love in both life and death. Despite being offered the opportunity of safe evacuation from the danger of war and the threat of death, they refused to desert their missionary posts or the people they had promised to serve in imitation of Christ.
They lived, and died, by the principle of “no greater love”, literally laying down their lives for love of God and their people. They never forsook their faith in the resurrection, or their Christian hope that, in the end, good is stronger than evil and love triumphs over hatred.
We might ask ourselves, why did they do it? Why did St Oliver show such determination and courage in the face of blatant bigotry and public demeaning of his character? Why was he so serene while being dragged to a brutal end? It was because of his unconditional love of God, his fervent faith in Christ and his undying conviction that Hope does not disappoint.
Why did those Korean and Malate missionaries choose to stay with their flock, enduring harsh imprisonment, half starvation, painful torture and eventual execution? Once more, it was because of their desire to witness to the passion, death and resurrection of Christ who, though innocent, was scourged for our sake and was led like a meek lamb to the slaughter.
Archbishop Eamon Martin unveiling a bronze statue of St Oliver Plunkett in St Patrick Cathedral, Armagh in July 2019. Sculpted by Dony MacManus it depicts St Oliver at the moment of his martyrdom. It was commissioned as a memorial to all martyrs for the faith, past, present, and future. Photo: Liam McArdle
Let me ask it another way: Why did their persecutors seek to destroy St Oliver Plunkett and the Columban missionaries? Why could they not accept that these faithful shepherds would never leave their beleaguered flocks? Why did they humiliate and eliminate these ambassadors for Christ? Why were such lies spread about our saintly Archbishop in the London morning papers? Why did the authorities in Korea and the Philippines not understand that Christian missionaries would stand by Faith, Hope and Love and give their whole lives in solidarity and compassion for their people?
The answer is, because evil abhors Faith; evil hates Love; and, evil especially detests Hope because, as Pope Francis once put it, “Hope keeps alive the deep conviction that good is stronger than evil, and that God, in Christ, has conquered sin and death.”
As he said on Easter Sunday, the day before he died, “Evil has not disappeared from history; it will remain until the end, but it no longer has the upper hand.” This Jubilee year, in remembering our anniversary martyrs – St Oliver Plunkett and the Columban witnesses of Malate and Korea – let us not forget that we are an Easter people, called to be, like them, pilgrims of Hope who courageously confront the darkness of this world with the light of faith and the power of love.
Archbishop Eamon Martin is Archbishop of Armagh, Apostolic Administrator of Dromore, and Primate of All Ireland. His cousin was Columban Missionary Fr Eddie McColgan who ministered for 45 years in Fiji.
This article was first published in the July/August 2025 issue of the Far East magazine. Please subscribe and support the Columban missionaries’ work with the most marginalised and disadvantaged. See: https://columbans.ie/far-east-magazine/
