The 2001 edition of the Martyrologium Romanum

The fathers of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council decreed that ‘liturgical books are to be revised as soon as possible’ (SC 25) with respect for all the theological, historical and pastoral criteria (cfr. SC 23). In SC 92c it is clearly laid down that ‘the accounts of martyrdom or the lives of the saints are to accord with the facts of history’. For that purpose, in 1964, Pope Paul VI set up a special Counsil (Concilium) to carry out all the decisions and directives contained in the above-mentioned Constitiution on the Sacred Liturgy. One of the first and most basic decisions was to create thirty-nine study groups, which were to prepare new editions of reformed liturgical books. Each group consisted of five to seven consultors of whom one was leader (relator), another secretary. The 24th study group was responsible for the new edition of the Roman Martyrology (De martyrologio). The catalogue if Saints and Blesseds was checked, and the lives of the Saints (eulogia) and data of their litugical cult were critically analysed and coordinated. This material formed the basic catalogue. Important stages on the way to the final edition of the Martyrology were studies of two proto-type versions. These were not complete drafts of the Martyrologium; their purpose was to provide consultors and experts with sample discussion material in the form of specimens. On 21 June 2001, Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Cardinal G. M. Medina Estevez, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, signed the decree for the publication of the typical edition of the Martyrologium Romanum, revised as a result of and in the spirit of renewal of Vatican II