Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Accra (Fides News Agency) –The first parish dedicated to St Matthew Ayariga, the Ghanaian Catholic who was martyred in Libya on 15 February 2015 together with the 20 Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Christians killed by jihadists of the Islamic State (ISIS), has been established in Texas (see Fides, 16/2/2015).
“It is with profound gratitude to Almighty God and with great joy that I announce the establishment of Saint Matthew Ayariga Catholic Church in Arlington as the newest parish of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth,” Bishop Michael Olson of Fort Worth, Texas, wrote in the pastoral letter announcing the establishment of the new parish.
Bishop Olson stressed that this is “the first Ghanaian National Catholic parish in the United States and the first Catholic parish anywhere in the world to be established under the patronage of Saint Matthew Ayariga, the Ghanaian Catholic migrant whose courageous profession of faith in Jesus Christ led to his martyrdom in Libya in 2015”.
The establishment of the parish crowns almost two decades of worship and community commitment among Ghanaian Catholics in the area. The journey began in 2007, when Ghanaian-origin faithful began gathering every week at St Joseph Catholic Church in Arlington to participate in Mass celebrated in the Twi language.
The number of faithful from Ghana gradually increased through cooperation between the Diocese of Fort Worth and the Archdiocese of Kumasi, which provided priests to offer pastoral care to the Ghanaian community.
According to accounts of the massacre that took place in the area of Sirte, Matthew Ayariga, the only non-Egyptian among the captives, was given the opportunity to renounce his Christian faith and save his life. Faced with his refusal to deny his faith, the young Ghanaian was killed together with the other captives. In the video released by the jihadists themselves, some of the faithful can be seen pronouncing the name of Jesus Christ before being killed (see Fides, 17/2/2015).
On 21 February 2015, seven days after their death, Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria canonized the 21 Coptic martyrs as saints.
On 11 May 2023, Pope Francis met with Pope Tawadros II on the occasion of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the agreement between the Coptic Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church, held in St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. In his address, Pope Francis announced his decision to inscribe the 21 martyrs in the Roman Martyrology.
As early as 2021, commemorating their martyrdom, Pope Francis had said that, by dying while confessing the name of Jesus, they had “received the greatest gift a Christian can receive” (see Fides, 16/2/2021).
(L.M.) (Fides News Agency, 3/9/2026)
