List of child saints

Child saints have been venerated in Christianity since the early second century. The earliest example of child saints are the Holy Innocents, recorded in Matthew 2 in the New Testament; Bethlehemite children under the age of 2 who were killed by King Herod I in his attempt to kill Baby Jesus.

This list contains Christian children under the age of 18 who are venerated as saints in at least one Christian confession.

Pre-Schism saints

Eastern Orthodox Church

Episcopal Church

Catholic Church

Groups of martyrs

Martyrs of China

• Andreas Wang Tianqing
• Anna Wang
• Anna Zhao Shangniuzhe
• Ioannes Baptista Wu Mantang
• Ioannes Baptista Zhu Wurui
• John the New Martyr of China
• Lucia Wang Cheng
• Magdalene Du Fengju
• Maria Chi Yu
• Maria Fan
• Maria Fan Kun
• Maria Zhao
• Maria Zheng Xu
• Paulus Lang Fu
• Paulus Wu Wanshu
• Petrus Hou Zhanou
• Petrus Zhu Rixin
• Simon Qin Chunfu
• Zhuze Chi

Martyrs of Japan

• Daughter of Shichizaemon and Magdalena (name unknown, age 3)
• Daughter of Shichizaemon and Magdalena (name unknown, age 5)
• Andreas Yakichi
• Antonius
• Antonius Banzai Orusu
• Antonio of Saint Dominic
• Antonius Ono
• Antonius Uchibori
• Benedictus
• Candidus ‘’bōzu’’
• Catharina Hashimoto
• Didacus Hayashida
• Dominicus Nihachi
• Dominicus of Saint Francis
• Dominicus Tomachi
• Elisabeth Sato
• Franciscus Hashimoto
• Franciscus Nihachi
• Franciscus Takeya
• Franciscus Yakichi
• Gabriel
• Iacobus
• Ignatius
• Ignatius Jorge-Fernandes
• Ignatius Uchibori
• Ioannes Hamanomachi
• Ioannes Mukunō Chōzaburō
• Iusta Amagasu
• Jacobus Hayashida
• John of Goto
• Laurentius Yamada
• Louis Ibaraki
• Lucia
• Lucia Kurogane
• Ludovica Hashimoto
• Ludovicus Ibaraki
• Ludovicus Minami
• Ludovicus Onizuka
• Luis Hashimoto
• Magdalena Hayashida
• Martha (last name unknown, age 1)
• Martha (last name unknown, age 7)
• Michaël Anazawa Osamu
• Michaël Tanda
• Michaël Tomachi
• Monica
• Paulus
• Paulus Tomachi
• Petrus Hamanomachi
• Petrus Hashimoto
• Petrus Hattori
• Petrus Kawano
• Petrus Nagaishi
• Regina
• Romanus Anazawa Matsujiro
• Sixtus
• Thecla Kurogane
• Thecla Takahashi
• Thomas Hashimoto
• Thomas Kajiya Yoemon
• Thomas Kozaki
• Thomas Mitsuishi
• Thomas Tomachi
• Ursula Yamamoto

Martyrs of Korea

• Agatha Kwŏn Chin-i
• Agatha Yi
• Anastasia Yi Bong-geum
• Barbara Sim A-gi
• Barbara Yi
• Iacobus Oh Jong-rye
• Ioannes Yu Mun-seok
• Iosephus Cho Yun-ho
• Joseph Cho Yun-ho
• Lutgarda Yi Sun-i
• Matthaeus Yu Jung-seong
• Petrus Yu Tae-ch’ŏl
• Petrus Chŏng Wŏn-ji

Martyrs of Kosheh

• Al-Amir Helmy Fahmy
• Maysoon Ghatas Fahmy
• Refaat Fayez Awad Fahmy
• Wael El-Dabai Mikhail

Martyrs of Nag Hammadi

• Mina Helmy Said
• Bishoy Farid Labib
• Dina Hamalni
• Boula Atef Yassa
• Abanoub Kamal Nashed

Martyrs of the Spanish Civil War

• Agustín López Hernández
• Agustín Villar Peña
• Alfredo Carrasco Herrero
• Andrés Pérez Fernández
• Ángel Martínez Somolinos
• Àngel Piquer Pellicer
• Antonio Ferrer Rodrigo
• Antonio Leblic Gómez-Lanzas
• Antonio Noguera Martínez
• Antonio Vicente Vaquero Prisuelos
• Bernabé de la Hoz Castillejos
• Emilia Revert Pla
• Emilio Huidobro Corrales
• Emilio Solanes Escrihuela
• Florentino de la Hoz Castillejos
• Francisco Alfredo
• Francisco Luis Pérez-Miravete y Pascual de Riquelme
• Gerardo Pinero Díaz
• Gregorio Urbano Güil Canfrán
• Helí González Navarro
• Ignasi Trias Bertran
• Jesús Brazales Salcedo
• Joan Gamissans Comellas
• Joan Roig Diggle
• José Rodríguez Fernández
• José Sánchez Rodríguez
• José Villacastín Sánchez
• Josep Borràs García
• Juan García-Pulgar García-Ochoa
• Juan Moya Collado
• Julián Mellado Noblejas
• Ladislao Luis
• Lluís Arbós Batista
• Luis Gonzaga Valentín Fernández
• Luis Quintas Durán
• Luis Villar Peña
• María del Carmen Candinas Medina
• Miguel Lloris Miralles
• Nadal Salort Caselles
• Pere Boix Folguera
• Pere Magí
• Rafael Lluch Garín
• Santiago Mosquera Suárez de Figueroa
• Ventura Martín Tejerizo

Martyrs of Vietnam

• Andrew Trong Van Tram
• Anê Dần
• Giuse Túc
• Thomas Thien Tran

Other Catholic Martyrs

Dubious or fictitious

William of Norwich was a twelve year old English boy whose unsolved murder was, at the time, attributed to the Jewish community of Norwich. It is the first known medieval accusation against Jews of ritual murder. E. M. Rose points out that road robberies and kidnappings gone wrong were a frequent cause of death in the region during the period of the Anarchy when the Crown struggled to safeguard the roads. This was followed by a similar allegation regarding the unexplained death of Harold of Gloucester. An attempt to establish a cult of Harold seems to have been unsuccessful. It was never officially supported and died out long before the Reformation. However, it established a pattern. Any unexplained child death occurring near the Easter festival was arbitrarily linked to Jews in the vicinity. In some instances promotion of a cult may have been influenced by the interest of local clergy to enhance the prestige of their church with a shrine. Anthony Bale suggests this, and local politics, may have been contributing factors to the cult of Robert of Bury. Simon of Trent and Werner of Oberwesel are other examples of individuals who died under unknown circumstances, but whose deaths were nonetheless attributed to the Jews.

Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln was never actually canonised, making the moniker "Little Saint Hugh" a misnomer. He was for a short while acclaimed by local people as a saint but never officially recognised as one. Over time, the issue of the rush to sainthood was raised, and Hugh was never canonised, nor included in Catholic martyrology.

In the case of Dominguito del Val, and Andreas Oxner, and the Holy Child of La Guardia it is not clear that the alleged victim ever existed in the first place.

See also

• 498 Spanish Martyrs
• Chinese Martyrs
• Consecrated virgin
• List of Servants of God
• Lists of venerable people (disambiguation)
• List of blesseds
• List of saints
• Persecution of Christians
• Twenty-six Martyrs of Japan
• List of pharaohs deified during lifetime

Further reading

• Guiley, Rosemary Ellen (2001). . Facts On File. ISBN 0-8160-4133-4.
• Bunson, Matthew, Margaret Bunson and Stephen Bunson (2003). Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints. Our Sunday Visitor, Inc. ISBN 1-931709-75-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Ball, Ann (2004). Young Faces of Holiness: Modern Saints in Photos and Words. Our Sunday Visitor, Inc. ISBN 1-931709-55-6.
• Cruz, Joan Carroll (2006). Saintly Youth of Modern Times. Our Sunday Visitor, Inc. ISBN 1-59276-004-X.
• Paul, Tessa (2009). The Illustrated World Encyclopedia of Saints: An authoritative visual guide to the lives and works of over 500 saints, with expert commentary and over 500 beautiful paintings, statues & icons. Lorenz Books. ISBN 978-0-7548-1854-0.

External links

• Partial list of saints who died as children.
• Flickr page containing the images of some Asian child saints.