The Church of England has voted to create an annual commemoration for 21 Christian labourers who were beheaded by Islamic State militants on a Libyan beach in 2015, marking the first change to its liturgical calendar in 16 years.
A measure to remember the men - widely known as the "21 Martyrs of Libya" - in its official calendar was approved by its parliamentary body, the General Synod, on Sunday.
In the first update to the Church's liturgical calendar since 2010, the commemoration is to be observed each February 15,
The victims, 20 Egyptian Coptic Christians and one man from Ghana, were mostly migrant workers who had travelled to Libya in search of work to support their families.
Islamic State militants, also known by the Arabic term Daesh, singled them out for their Christian faith and executed them on a beach near the city of Sirte after they refused to renounce it. There were reports of the men dying with the words ‘O my Lord Jesus’ on their lips.
Footage circulated online, presumably to spread fear, instead drew praise and admiration from around the world for the men's courage.
The Coptic Orthodox Church recognised the men as martyrs soon after their deaths and instituted February 15 as their feast day. The Roman Catholic Church also honours them.
Synod members were reminded during the debate of words from the Bishop of Chelmsford when the proposal was first put forward last year that “martyrdom is a present reality in the life of the Church".
Concluding the debate Bishop Michael Ipgrave, Chair of the Liturgical Commission, said the commemoration would fix “our gaze on a beach in Libya where the same Lord was confessed by men whose worldly power was small but whose witness has become immense".
