Today will see the inauguration of an Egyptian church dedicated to the 21 Christians beheaded by ISIS on the Libyan coast in 2015.
February 15, 2018 marks the third anniversary of the martyrdom of 20 Egyptian Coptic Christians and one Ghanaian believer, graphic footage of which was broadcast online. The church dedicated to their memory has been built in al-Our, near Samalut in Egypt's Minya province, the home of 13 of the Libyan martyrs, according to Independent Catholic News.
Relatives of those killed are expected to attend today's inauguration service and eventually the remains of the deceased are expected to buried together at the site.
The targeted Christians – declared to be 'martyred saints' by Coptic Pope Tawadros II – were kidnapped in January 2015, with footage of their beheading shown a month later in a video titled: 'A message signed with blood to the nation of the cross'. Permission for the vast new church at al-Our, to honour the dead, was granted by Egyptian president Abdel-Fatah al-Sisi.
In October 2017 their remains, with bodies still bound and dressed in their orange jumpsuits, were found at the coastal city of Sirte, according to World Watch Monitor.
Coptic Christians represent about 10 per cent of Egypt's majority Muslim population. The community has been subject to intense attacks in recent years, particularly from Islamist fundamentalist groups.
In December 2016, ISIS claimed responsibility for a Cairo Coptic church bombing that killed 27.
In 2017 the jihadists vocally incited violence against the community, forcing hundreds to flee their homes in northern Egypt in February. Palm Sunday bombings on two Egyptian churches, including the seat of the Coptic pope, killed at least 45 and injured over 100. An attack on a church bus in May claimed another 29 Coptic lives.
