King Is Up for Catholic Martyrdom

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., the Baptist who led the U.S. civil rights movement, is a candidate to be recognized by the Vatican as a martyr for the Christian faith.

Bishop Tod Brown of the Diocese of Orange said King is among Americans to be considered by the Vatican for a list of 20th century martyrs whom Pope John Paul II will honor in a May 7 ceremony. Brown, head of the U.S. nominations panel, said the group submitted King’s name.

The special observance is distinct from the lengthy process by which the Vatican officially designates martyrs of the Roman Catholic Church.

Nonetheless, experts said naming non-Catholic martyrs carries great ecumenical symbolism as the Roman Catholic Church reaches out to other Christian denominations. King’s very name--Martin Luther--is that of the German whose criticism of the 16th century papacy led to the Protestant Reformation.

Paul Henderson, director of the U.S. hierarchy’s office on marking the 2000th anniversary of Christianity, said the bishops committee submitted 25 to 30 nominees in 1998. A special “new martyrs” commission at the Vatican is selecting honorees from 10,000 names submitted by bishops and religious orders worldwide.

The bishops have not released names of their nominees because of hurt and disappointment if some are not chosen, Henderson said.

Catholic News Service, which is owned by the U.S. bishops’ conference, reported in 1998 that King was among the nominees.

Brown said that King, whose 71st birthday would have been Saturday, was “a prophet in terms of civil rights. . . . His whole rationale had a strong spiritual basis.”

The list of American nominees apparently also included four church women who were murdered in El Salvador in 1980.

Henderson said the Vatican invited the nominations three years ago, inspired by Pope John Paul II’s emphasis on the importance of martyrs.

King was a committed Baptist, but his work crossed religious lines. He met with Pope John XXIII and many leaders of other faiths. He spoke often of the importance of brotherhood.

The inclusion of non-Catholics is part of John Paul’s interest in making the 2000th anniversary of Christianity an ecumenical celebration.

“For the pope to recognize Protestant martyrs is a very important ecumenical move. It was only a few centuries ago when Catholics and Protestants were burning each other at the stake,” said Daniel Boyarin, a UC Berkeley professor and author of “Dying for God: Martyrdom and the Making of Christianity and Judaism.”