John L. Allen Jr.
How history changed with recognition of Coptic martyrs
Pope Francis and Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria, Egypt, lead prayers in the Redemptoris Mater Chapel of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican May 11. Before the prayer service, Pope Francis announced he is adding to the Roman Martyrology, the list of saints’ feast days, the 21 Coptic martyrs murdered by Islamic State terrorists in 2015. Photo: CNS.
For those with ears to hear, every so often it’s actually possible to detect the sound of history’s tectonic plates as they shift. Such was the case Thursday, with a remarkable gesture by Pope Francis of inscribing a group of Coptic Christian martyrs into the Roman Martyrology, Catholicism’s official compendium of saints. The move was…