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Pope Francis recognises 21 Copts beheaded by Daesh as martyrs

May 11, 2023 at 5:46 pm

Pope Francis celebrates the Palm Sunday Mass in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican City Vatican, on April 02, 2023 [Isabella Bonotto / Pool – Anadolu Agency]

Pope Francis, on Thursday, announced that 21 Coptic Orthodox Christians beheaded by Daesh in Libya, in 2015, are being recognised as martyrs by the Vatican, Reuters reports.

He revealed the move during a meeting with Pope Tawadros II of the Coptic Orthodox Church and said he was doing so with Tawadros’ consent.

The 21 Copts – 20 Egyptians and a Ghanaian – were lined up on 15 February, 2015 in orange jumpsuits on a beach in the Libyan city of Sirte, which Daesh then controlled. The Islamist group posted a video of the killings, showing the men praying as they died.

Francis told Tawadros that the inscription of the men, in what is known as the Roman Martyrology, or calendar of saints, was “a sign of the spiritual communion that unites our two Churches”.

Their ‘feast’ day – which celebrates their memory – is expected to be 15 February.

Tawadros, 70, is at the Vatican to mark the 50th anniversary of the first meeting between a Roman pope and a Coptic pope, which took place between their respective predecessors, Paul VI and Shenouda III, in 1973.

Copts comprise about 10 per cent of Egypt’s mostly Muslim population, and there are small Coptic Christian communities throughout the Middle East and Africa. They have long been attacked by Islamist militants who see them as heretics.

READ: Libya hands Egypt bodies of 20 Christians killed by Daesh