Blood of the martyrs killed by ISIS “a seed that will bear abundant fruit”

The blood of 21 martyrs killed by ISIS on a Libyan beach in 2015 is “a seed that will bear abundant fruits for Christian unity,” said Pope Francis, according to a report by the Catholic News Agency (CNA).

In a letter dated May 10 to Coptic Orthodox Patriarch Tawadros II, the Pope said the death of men had touched the lives of Christians around the world.

Regarding those who suffered in the name of Christ, he wrote: “Under this ‘cloud of witnesses’ (Heb. 12: 1) I particularly remember the 21 Coptic martyrs who were killed on February 15, 2015, whose blood was not is only the ‘seed of Christians’, but also, I am deeply convinced, a seed that will bear abundant fruits for Christian unity. “

“Thanks to their powerful testimony, many Christians in our world have come to realize that the ranks of martyrs include not only the saints of the early Church depicted on ancient icons, but also men and women of our day, our contemporaries. They too are saints “Saints from every Christian tradition.”

The beheading of the 21 men in orange overalls was featured in a propaganda video released by ISIS on February 15, 2015. The jihadist group kidnapped the construction workers in the Libyan city of Sirte. Twenty of those killed came from Egypt and one, Matthew Ayariga, from Ghana.

The 21 men were canonized by Tawadros II. Her remains were identified and returned to Egypt, where they were buried in a church built in her honor.

The Pope sent the letter on the occasion of the eighth day of friendship between Copts and Catholics. The day honors the ecumenical relations between the approximately 10 million people of the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church.

The day is celebrated annually on May 10th and commemorates the historic first meeting between a Pope and a Coptic patriarch – Paul VI. and Shenouda III. – on May 10, 1973.

According to their tradition, the Coptic Church was founded by St. Mark the Evangelist. Its head is known as the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria.

The Coptic Church split off from the Catholic Church after the Council of Chalcedon in 451 and is known today as one of the six autocephalous Oriental Orthodox Churches.

ACI Stampa, CNA’s Italian-speaking news partner, reports that Pope Francis spoke to Tawadros II by phone on May 10th. The Pope is said to have expressed the wish to meet the Coptic leader after overcoming the Corona crisis.

The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity announced that its secretary, Bishop Brian Farrell, and the French Dominican Father Hyacinthe Destivelle would celebrate this year’s feast with a liturgy in the Coptic Orthodox Church of St. George in Rome on Sunday, May 16, celebrated.

“In his address, Bishop Farrell issued an invitation to strengthen the friendship between Copts and Catholics in friendship with Christ himself,” the papal council said.

In his letter, Pope Tawadros II thanked him for having written the preface “for my book dedicated to peace”, which will be published shortly by the Vatican.

“Your gracious gesture is a testimony of our brotherhood in Christ, on the way to full communion between our churches,” wrote the Pope. “On this way, like the disciples on the way to Emmaus, we will be accompanied by Christ himself, who, I pray, will lead us to the longed-for saying when we will celebrate his death and resurrection together at the same altar.”

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— CNA Deutsch (@CNAdeutsch) March 25, 2019

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