In the article, they quote a cardinal of the Catholic Church:
“You can’t condemn people who are afraid of dying and so don’t show themselves as Catholic,” Cardinal Amato said. “A Christian is not obliged to be a martyr.”
This is so very wrong, I can barely contain myself.
Our human nature wants to hold on to this life with both hands. We want to avoid pain, to avoid suffering, to keep out of trouble. However, Christ didn't say we would avoid these; He said that people would bring all of these upon us because of Himself. We were to pick up our crosses and follow Him.
No Christian is obligated to seek out martyrdom from a standing stop. There are millions upon millions of Christians alive today who will never see any opportunity to be a martyr, and will not be called to it. However, there are those who are called to it, and there are those to whom it is thrust upon. Once you are in the position of either being a martyr or rejecting Christianity, any Christian MUST choose martyrdom, or risk losing his eternal soul. Christ makes it clear that those who reject Him in front of men will be rejected.
These little baby Christians being allowed to roam the hinterlands with their Sunday School understanding of God and no connection with the Holy Spirit are being done an eternal disservice.