Confessor

From the New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia, a short blurb about the word "confessor" --

The word confessor is derived from the Latin confiteri, to confess, to profess, but it is not found in writers of the classical period, having been first used by the Christians. With them it was a title of honour to designate those brave champions of the Faith who had confessed Christ publicly in time of persecution and had been punished with imprisonment, torture, exile, or labour in the mines, remaining faithful in their confession until the end of their lives. The title thus distinguished them from the martyrs, who were so called because they underwent death for the Faith...

In the beginning it was given to those who confessed Christ when examined in the presence of enemies of the Faith.

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