The following comes from an October 15 Zenit article:
The gruesome images of the 21 Christians who were beheaded last February by Islamic State terrorists have left a deep imprint on the memory of Christian Egyptians. Now a new church dedicated to the martyrs—who are formally recognized as such by Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church—will honor their memory in a tangible fashion.
This week—after a long delay—work began on laying the foundations of the new church in the Coptic-Orthodox Diocese of Samalout, from which most of the martyrs came. The project had been authorized directly by Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi shortly after the tragedy, but resistance by local Muslim authorities delayed the start of construction.
Bishop Paphnutius of Samalout interprets their martyrdom spiritually. “The Church has always known that the blood of martyrs is the seed of faith. It will remain so until the end of time,” he said. “From Alexandria to Aswan, throughout Egypt, Christians have been strengthened in their faith. Muslims from all over have also told us that they are proud; they say that our martyrs have shown that we Egyptians are very strong. Their death fills all of us, Christians and Muslims alike, with pride.”
The crime’s repercussions are still felt today. After all, the martyrs have left widows and children behind. “Thanks to generous donors, we are able to provide for the surviving dependants,” stated Bishop Paphnutius.
The martyrs’ children are calm and composed when speaking about their fathers. Ingy Tawadros (14) is one of the three children of Tawadros Youssef Tawadros. This victim had experienced a lot of difficulties in Libya because of his name, which was easily recognizable as Christian; he had often been asked to change it, but refused, reportedly saying—according to his teenage daughter—that “if you change your name, you are ultimately also changing your faith.”
Maybe someday we will have a “Feast of the 21 Martyrs” Day.
There are so many people who have died as martyrs for the Catholic faith, and the entire Christian faith as well. Why not simply dedicate a church to Christian martyrs in general?
This is only the beginning Europe has just let the Trojan Horse in i.e. Germany with over 1,000,000 MUSLIM MEN all young and ISIS ready. If you look at them they appear healthy and young, well dressed, with cell phones, and already demanding food, housing and all of the free benefits Europe will hand them. It is predicted in the year 2050 Germany, Holland, Belgium, France, England, Norway, Denmark, Sweden will be Islamic countries, the birthrate for Europeans is 1.1 child per household as compared to Muslims in Europe at 8.2 per household. Facts don’t lie and it is impossible for Europeans to replenish themselves, it can’t happen. Even now the French city of Marseilles is roughly 35 to 45% Muslim, Paris is at 25% Muslim. My friends…
Its good to help people see that this is happening in our current times. God bless them. It is sure heartbreaking. Something to reflect on.
I have a small Coptic cross, out of an unknown material, that was woven by some of the Coptic monks that I bought on line from Egypt when the Muslims were burning the Coptic churches. One way to stand in solidarity with them is to buy their merchandise on line when one can.
I also saw a video of the Coptic wives left behind by the martyrs, and they were already asking for the intercession of their husbands before God, and these women were very good and pious.