21 Coptic Martyrs of Libya
21 Coptic Martyrs of Libya | |
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Icon of the 21 Martyrs of Libya | |
| Martyrs | |
| Born | Various One from Ghana, others from Egypt |
| Died | 15 February 2015 Southern Mediterranean Sea Coast, Sirte, Libya (murdered by the Islamic State) |
| Cause of death | Decapitation |
| Resting place | Village of Al-Our, Samalut, Minya, Egypt |
| Venerated in | Oriental Orthodoxy Catholic Church |
| Canonized | 21 February 2015, Village of Al-Our, Samalut, Minya Governorate, Egypt by Pope Tawadros II |
| Major shrine | Church of the Martyrs of the Faith and Homeland, Samalut, Egypt |
| Feast | 15 February (Gregorian calendar) 8 Meshir (Coptic calendar) |
| Attributes | |
| Patronage | |
| Part of a series of articles on the |
| Modern persecution of Coptic Christians |
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| Overview |
| Terrorist attacks |
| Figures |
On 12 February 2015, the Islamic State (IS) released a report in their online magazine Dabiq showing photos of 21 Christian construction workers—twenty from Egypt and one from Ghana—that they had kidnapped in the city of Sirte, Libya, and who they reported had been killed. The men, who came from different villages in Egypt, 13 of them from Al-Our, Minya Governorate, were kidnapped in Sirte in two separate attacks on 27 December 2014, and in January 2015. On 15 February, a video was released showing their murder by beheading.
This was not the first time that Coptic Egyptians in Libya had been the subject of abuse for political reasons, a pattern that goes back to the 1950s. In 2014, a militia group in eastern Libya declared its affiliation with IS and then took over parts of Derna in late 2014. People allied to the group claimed responsibility for attacks across the country, including the Corinthia Hotel attack in January 2015. On 19 April 2015, IS released another video, which showed the murder of about 30 Ethiopian Christians.
The victims, all but one members of the Coptic Orthodox Church, were formally declared martyrs and saints in February 2015 by Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria. In 2023, Pope Francis announced that the 21 Christian men murdered by IS would also be commemorated by the Catholic Church and listed within the Roman Martyrology in what was described as a major ecumenical decision. The martyrs are commemorated on 15 February (civil calendar) in both Christian denominations. A film titled The 21 was released in 2024 to commemorate them.