The first stone of a church dedicated to the 21 Egyptian Copts killed in Libya by the so-called “Islamic State” was laid yesterday. The dedication of the Church of the “Martyrs of Libya” was held in the village of Al Awar, in Egypt.
According to Fides, the village is located 25 kilometers from Minya, the province where most of the martyrs came from.
Although some local Islamic groups protested the proposed construction of the Church, local representatives of the Islamic community were present at the dedication to express their support and solidarity with Christians.
The governor of Minya had held a meeting of the Conciliation Committee with representatives of elders and influential Christian and Muslim family clans in the area. Senior representatives of the army and security forces also participated in the meeting.
A week following their brutal murder, Pope Tawadros II announced that martyrs’ names will be inserted into the Coptic Synaxarium.
The Coptic Synaxarium is the Oriental Church’s equivalent to the Roman Martyrology. The procedure is equivalent as canonization in the Latin Church.
