La memoire des coptes victimes de Daesh en Libye
Pour la sixieme annee consecutive, les coptes orthodoxes ont celebre la mort des 21 chretiens executes par Daech en Libye en 2015. La majorite de ces travailleurs emigres venait du petit village d Al-Our, pres de la ville de Samalut, dans le gouvernorat de Minya, en moyenne Egypte. Une region sensible, ou les tensions inter-religieuses exacerbent les relations entre villageois. La zone est sous surveillance constante des forces de securite.
Le patriarche Tawadros II a inscrit les victimes dans le livre des martyrs coptes suite a cet evenement tragique filme et diffuse par le groupe islamiste.
C est dans l eglise des martyrs de la foi, construite par le gouvernement et inauguree en 2018, que la ceremonie a eu lieu.
D abord de maniere quasiment confidentielle, elle a ensuite ete ouverte a un public plus large.
C est la, parmi la foule des fideles venus rendre hommage a leur memoire, que femmes, meres et enfants des martyrs se retrouvent. "L eglise est notre maison".
Mariam, la femme du martyr Samuel, a discretement ouvert la porte du sanctuaire familial a cote de l autel, se trouve une armoire avec les affaires de son mari, dont une chemise aux effets miraculeux.
A Samalut, la foi est presente, plus que jamais, portee par la memoire de ces chretiens d hier, devenus martyrs aujourd hui.
The memory of the Coptic victims of Daesh in Libya
For the sixth year in a row, the Coptic Orthodox celebrated the death of 21 Christians executed by Daech in Libya in 2015. The majority of these migrant workers came from the small village of Al-Our, near the town of Samalut, in the governorate of Minya, in Middle Egypt. A sensitive area, where inter-religious tensions exacerbate relations between villagers. The area is under constant surveillance by security forces.
Patriarch Tawadros II inscribed the victims in the book of Coptic martyrs following this tragic event filmed and broadcast by the Islamist group.
The ceremony took place in the Church of the Martyrs of the Faith, built by the government and inaugurated in 2018.
At first almost confidentially, it was then opened to a wider public.
It is there, among the crowd of faithful who have come to pay homage to their memory, that the wives, mothers and children of the martyrs are gathered. "The church is our home".
Mariam, the wife of the martyr Samuel, discreetly opened the door of the family shrine. Next to the altar is a cupboard with her husband's belongings, including a shirt with miraculous effects.
In Samalut, the faith is more present than ever, carried by the memory of these Christians of yesterday, who became martyrs today.
