1. The memory of the martyrs has brought us here today to Otranto. It has brought us here to venerate martyrdom, on which, from the beginning, the kingdom of God, proclaimed and initiated in human history by Jesus Christ, is built.

The truth about martyrdom has in the Gospel an eloquence full of penetrating depth and at the same time transparent simplicity. Christ does not promise his disciples earthly success or material prosperity; he does not present before their eyes any 'utopia', as has happened more than once and as always happens in the history of human ideologies. He simply says to his disciples: "they will persecute you. They will hand you over to the organs of the different authorities, they will put you in prison, they will call you before the different courts. All this "because of my name" (Lk 21:12).

The substance of martyrdom is linked, from the beginning and throughout the centuries, with this name! We qualify as martyrs those Christians who, in the course of history, have undergone suffering, often terrifying, for their cruelty 'in odium fidei'. Those on whom 'in odium fidei' death was finally inflicted. Hence those who by accepting suffering and suffering death in this world bore special witness to Christ.

Putting before the eyes of his disciples the image of the sufferings that await them because of his name, the Master says: "This will give you occasion to bear witness" (Lk 21:13).

2. Five hundred years ago here in Otranto, 800 disciples of Christ bore precisely such a testimony, accepting death for the name of Christ. The words of the Lord Jesus on martyrdom refer to them: 'You will be hated by all for my name's sake' (Lk 21:17). Yes. They have been hated. They drank for the name of Christ the cup of this hatred to the bottom, like their master, who went straight from the Passover supper to Gethsemane and prayed there: 'Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me' (Lk 22:42). However, the cup of human hatred, cruelty and the cross did not depart. Christ, obedient to the Father, emptied it to the bottom: "Not my will, but Thy will be done" (Lk 22:42).

The testimony of Gethsemane and the cross is a definitive seal, stamped on all that Jesus did and taught. He, accepting death, gave his life for the salvation of the world. The martyrs of Otranto, by accepting death, gave their lives for Christ. And in this way they bore special witness to Christ.

The testimony of the martyrs also introduces them in a special way into his Paschal Mystery. "By your perseverance," says Jesus, "you will save your souls" (Lk 21:19). Just as he himself conquered the new life by accepting death, so the martyrs, by accepting death, conquer the life to which Christ initiated in his resurrection.

3. "That" life: the new and full life disproves, in a certain sense, the experience of death. Above all, it disproves the certainty of those who, by inflicting death, believed that they had deprived the martyrs of life and snatched them permanently from the land of the living.

"To the eyes of the foolish it seemed that they died; / their end was deemed a misfortune, / their departure from us a ruin".

So proclaimed the author of the book of Wisdom (Wis 3:2-3) long before Christ uttered his words on martyrdom.

"...but they are in peace" (Wis 3:3). But they are in peace!

In the act of martyrdom, therefore, a radical, so to speak, contraposition of the very criteria and foundations of thinking takes place. The human death of the martyrs, the death linked to suffering and torment - like the death of Christ on the cross - yields, in a certain sense, before another superior reality. The author of the book of Wisdom writes: "The souls of the righteous ... are in the hands of God / no torment shall touch them" (Wis 3:1).

This other higher reality does not annul the fact of torment and death, just as it did not annul the fact of Christ's passion and death. It, the invisible 'hand' of God only transforms this human fact. It already transforms it even in its earthly texture, through the power of faith that is revealed in the souls of the martyrs in the face of torment and suffering: 'Though in the eyes of men they suffer punishment, their hope is full of immortality' (Wis 3:4).

The strength of this faith and the power of hope that comes from God are more powerful than chastisement and death itself. Martyrs bear witness to Christ precisely because of this power of faith and hope. Indeed, similar to Him in passion and death, they simultaneously proclaim the power of His resurrection. Suffice it to recall here how Christ's first martyr, the deacon Stephen, died; he died crying out: "Behold I behold the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56).

So then, thanks to the power of faith and the power of hope, the proportions change in a certain sense: the proportions of life and death, of defeat and victory, of dispossession and elevation. The author of the book of Wisdom later writes:"In exchange for a short punishment / they will receive great benefits, / because God has tried them / and found them worthy of himself" (Wis 3:5).

4. Here we touch on a particularly important point in the fact of martyrdom. Martyrdom is a great trial, in a certain sense it is the ultimate and radical trial. It is man's greatest test, the test of man's dignity before God Himself. It is difficult to say more on this subject than what the very book of Wisdom states: 'God tried them and found them worthy of himself' (Wis 3:5). There is no greater measure of man's dignity than that found in God Himself: in the eyes of God. Martyrdom is therefore 'the' trial of man that takes place in the eyes of God, a trial in which man, aided by the power of God, brings victory.

Through such a trial numerous confessors and disciples of Christ have passed throughout history. Through such a trial the martyrs of Otranto passed five hundred years ago. Through such an ordeal have passed and are passing the martyrs of our century, martyrs who are often unknown, or little known, even if they are not far from us.

And so in today's circumstance I cannot but turn my gaze, beyond the sea, to the not distant heroic Church in Albania, shattered by harsh and prolonged persecution but enriched by the witness of its martyrs: Bishops, priests, men and women religious and simple faithful.

In addition to them, my thoughts also go to my other Christian brothers and sisters and all believers in God who suffer similar hardships in that nation.

Being spiritually close to all those who suffer violence because of their faith is a special duty of all Christians, according to the tradition inherited from the first centuries. I would go further: here it is also a matter of solidarity due to individuals and communities whose fundamental rights are violated or even totally conculturated. We must pray that the Lord will sustain these brothers of ours with his grace in such difficult trials. And we also want to pray for those who persecute them, repeating Christ's invocation on the cross, addressed to the Father: 'Forgive them for they know not what they do'.

Very often people try to qualify martyrs as 'guilty of political offences'. Christ too was condemned to death apparently for this reason: because he claimed to be king (cf. Lk 23:2). Let us not, therefore, forget the martyrs of our times. Let us not act as if they did not exist. Let us thank God that they have victoriously passed the test. Let us implore the power of the Holy Spirit for the persecuted who still have to undergo this trial. May the words of the Master be fulfilled upon them: "I will give you a tongue and wisdom, which all your adversaries will not be able to resist or fight" (Lk 21:15).

Let us remain in communion with the martyrs. They dig the deepest bed of the divine river in history.

They build the most solid foundations of that divine city that rises towards eternity.

The author of the book of Wisdom proclaims: "(God) has sifted them like gold in the crucible and has graced them as a burnt offering" (Wis 3:6).

5. In the Church on earth, the memory and veneration of the holy martyrs remains, as here in Otranto, and in so many other places in Italy, Europe and the world. In the kingdom of God they receive together with Christ a special strength and power in the mystery of the communion of saints and in the whole divine economy of truth and love.

"They shall rule the nations, they shall have power over the peoples, and the Lord shall reign over them forever.

Those who trust in him will understand the truth; those who are faithful to him will live with him in love, for grace and mercy are reserved for his elect" (Wis 3:8-9).

The martyrs, before the majesty of divine justice, could cry out as we read in the Apocalypse: "Until when, you sovereign, you who are holy and true, will you not do justice and avenge our blood upon the inhabitants of the earth?" (Rev 6:10). Yet in the eternal light of the Most Holy Trinity, united in supreme truth and perfect love, they become spokesmen of grace and mercy for their brothers and sisters on earth. Indeed, they become so for their own persecutors. They become so especially for the Church, which according to God's merciful designs must be the 'divine city' elevated among the peoples, must be: 'in Christ as a sacrament, or sign and instrument of intimate union with God and of the unity of the whole human race' (Lumen Gentium, 1).

It is therefore precisely this Church, gathered today in Otranto at the great tomb of the martyrs, desires in the spirit of the mission that is proper to it to raise, through them, its prayer to God. This prayer places in first place the problems that we today, from this great tomb of the Otranto martyrs, after 500 years, see in a new way and with a new clarity, in the perspective of the cross of Christ and the mission of the Church.

6. The Second Vatican Council, which affirmed that "the Church is in Christ as a sacrament or sign and instrument of intimate union with God and of the unity of the whole human race" (Lumen Gentium, 1), also manifested its attitude consistent with this profession towards those events that, in the past, set Muslims and Christians against each other as enemies: "If in the course of the centuries there have arisen between Christians and Muslims not a few contentions and enmities, this sacrosanct Council exhorts all to forget what has passed, to sincerely practice mutual understanding and to promote together moral goods, peace and freedom" (Nostra Aetate, 3).

For us, these words are of decisive importance. I have already had occasion to speak in the same spirit more than once: in Ankara, the capital of Turkey, during my visit to that country last year, and also in Nairobi, Accra, Ouagadougou and Abidjan during my recent trip to African soil.

Today, at the glorious tombs of the martyrs of Otranto, I invoke the intercession of those whose "souls are in the hands of God", and, together with the whole Church, I raise fervent prayers so that the words of the teaching of the Second Vatican Council may become more and more a reality.

At this time, a deferential and cordial thought goes out to the Church in Byzantium, which had historical ties with the local Church of Otranto.

From this ancient land of Apulia, stretched out like a bridgehead towards the East, we look with attention and sympathy to the regions of the East and particularly where the three great monotheistic religions, namely Christianity, Judaism and Islam, had their historical origins. We have in mind what the Council says of "that people to whom were given the wills and the promises and from whom Christ was born according to the flesh (cf. Rom 9:4-5); a people, by virtue of election, beloved by reason of its fathers, because the gifts and vocation of God are irrevocable (cf. Rom 11:28-29)". And later we read on the same page of the Second Vatican Council: "But the plan of salvation also embraces those who recognise the creator, and among them in particular the Muslims, who professing to hold the faith of Abraham, worship with us a single, merciful God, who will judge mankind on the final day" (Lumen Gentium, 16).

At the same time, we cannot close our eyes to the particularly delicate situations that have arisen and still exist there. Very serious conflicts have broken out; the Middle East region is pervaded by tensions and disputes, with the ever-looming risk of new wars breaking out again. It is painful to note that clashes have often taken place along dividing lines between different confessional groups, so that it has been possible for some, unfortunately, to artificially fuel them by appealing to religious sentiment.

The terms of the Middle East drama are well known: the Jewish people, after tragic experiences, linked to the extermination of so many sons and daughters, driven by the anxiety for security, gave birth to the state of Israel; at the same time, the painful condition of the Palestinian people was created, a large part of which was excluded from its land. These facts are there for all to see. And other countries, such as Lebanon, are suffering from a crisis that threatens to be chronic. And these days, a bitter conflict is going on in a neighbouring region, between Iraq and Iran.

Gathered here today, at the tombs of the martyrs of Otranto, let us meditate on the words of the liturgy proclaiming their glory and power in the kingdom of God: 'They will rule the nations, they will have power over the peoples, and the Lord will reign over them forever'. Therefore, in union with these martyrs, we present to the one God, to the living God, to the Father of all men, the problems of peace in the Middle East and also the problem, so dear to us, of rapprochement and true dialogue with those with whom we are united - despite our differences - by faith in one God, the faith inherited from Abraham. May the spirit of unity, mutual respect and understanding prove more powerful than that which divides and opposes.Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, the Arabian Peninsula and Mesopotamia have nurtured the roots of sacred traditions for each of the three religious groups for millennia; there, for centuries, Christian, Jewish and Islamic communities have coexisted on the same territories; in those regions, the Catholic Church boasts communities distinguished for their antiquity of history, vitality, variety of rites, and their own spiritual characteristics.

It towers high over all this world, like an ideal centre, a precious casket that holds the treasures of the most venerable memories, and it is itself the first of these treasures, the holy city, Jerusalem, today the object of a dispute that seems without solution, tomorrow - if one so wishes! - tomorrow a crossroads of reconciliation and peace.

Yes, we pray that Jerusalem, instead of being, as it is today, an object of contention and division, will become the meeting point, towards which Christians, Jews and Muslims will continue to turn their gaze, as to their common hearth; around which they will feel like brothers, none superior, none in debt to the others; towards which pilgrims, whether followers of Christ, or believers in the Mosaic law, or members of the Islamic community, will once again direct their steps.

7. And now our thoughts turn once again to the liturgy of the martyrs. We look with the eyes of the author of the Book of Revelation and we see in the great cemetery of Otranto and, at the same time, in the perspective of the eternal Jerusalem... we see: "under the altar the souls of those who were immolated because of the word of God and the testimony they had borne to him... a white robe was given to each of them and they were told to be patient a little while longer, until the number of their fellow servants and brothers was complete" (Rev 6:9, 11).

[Pope John Paul II, Otranto homily 5 October 1980]