Last week, Pope Francis marked the Feast of the Holy Innocents and encouraged the Christian community to come together on the day. 

In a tweet, Pope Francis said, “The new Herods of our time devour the innocence of our children under the oppression of illegal slave labour, prostitution, exploitation, wars and forced emigration.  Let us pray together today for these children and defend them.  #HolyInnocents”

The Feast of the Holy Innocents is celebrated on Dec. 28.  This day commemorates the children that King Herod massacred in his efforts to kill the baby Jesus.  The early church considered these children to be the first martyrs.

Herod I, who is also known as Herod the Great, lived from around 75 to 4 BCE.  He ruled as a king of Judea for 33 years.  During this time he suspected his wife of being unfaithful and had her put to death, and later he suspected three of his sons of disloyalty and had them killed as well.

LearnReligions.com continues the story. According to the online religious resource, around the time of Jesus’ birth, Herod heard that a “king of the Jews” had been born. Wise Men from the East were traveling to Jesus to honor him, and Herod called the Wise Men before him and instructed them to come back and tell him Jesus’ location. Herod told the Wise Men he wanted to visit Jesus so that he, too, could honor him, but the Wise Men were warned in a dream to not to trust Herod. They took a different route home so they wouldn't have to see the king again.  An angel visited Joseph in a dream and warned him to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt.  King Herod learned that the Wise Men had tricked him and ordered all of the boys in Bethlehem and nearby who were two years old or younger to be slaughtered. The Holy Family returned to Israel after Herod’s death.

The National Catholic Register recently wrote a comprehensive review of the Feast of the Holy Innocents and Pope Francis' regard for the day.