Texas parish first in world named after 2015 Ghanian martyr

The first Catholic parish in the world founded under the patronage of Ghanaian martyr and saint Matthew Ayariga will open in Arlington, Texas, in January 2027.

Bishop Michael Olson of the Diocese of Fort Worth announced on Aug. 28 the opening of the church.

Ayariga was one of 21 Christian migrant workers in Libya kidnapped and then beheaded by the terrorist group ISIS on a beach near Sirte, Libya, on Feb. 15, 2015.

Originally from Ghana, Ayariga was the only Black African among the 21 men. The others were all Coptic Orthodox Christians from Egypt. When questioned about his faith by his kidnappers, he reportedly replied: “Their God is my God.”

The Coptic Orthodox Church canonized all 21 men as saints and martyrs on Feb. 21, 2015, under Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II.

In an ecumenical sign of communion between the two churches, Pope Francis announced that the 21 martyrs would be inscribed in the Roman Martyrology on May 11, 2023, during a meeting at the Vatican with Pope Tawadros II. Francis described the men as baptized “not only in water and the Spirit, but also in blood.”

As the authority to create saints lies with the Apostolic See, the saints did not have to go through the usual multistep canonization process involving the opening of a cause, beatification, and confirmed miracles.

The martyrs’ feast day in both churches is Feb. 15.

Another first

The parish will also be the first Ghanaian Catholic parish in the U.S. and will serve the Ghanaian community in north Texas, which has met since 2007 at St. Joseph Church in Arlington.

“Saint Matthew Ayariga Catholic Church will provide a place for Ghanaian Catholics to come together in Christ as the Church to worship God, to assist their maintaining bonds with the Church in Ghana, and to strengthen their children sacramentally to grow as part of the local church here,” Olson told EWTN News in a statement.

He also said the church would serve as a place that would aid immigrants in their transition “to life as citizens and productive contributors to the common good of Texas and the United States.”

“We’ve had a growing Ghanaian presence in our diocese for a long time,” a spokesperson for the diocese told EWTN News. “Their community long envisioned having a parish to call their own.”

The community has been raising funds to establish its own parish for nearly 20 years, according to the spokesperson. “When they began raising funds, there was no name attached to the nonexistent parish. The name was only settled on recently, although I would guess that after his martyrdom, Matthew Ayariga’s name began to rise to the top of the list of parish names.”

Three Masses to dedicate the new church, a former Methodist church being renovated in south Arlington, are planned for the weekend of Jan. 29–31, 2027. The archbishop of Kumasi, Ghana, Gabriel Anokye, is expected to attend, along with dignitaries and other representatives of the Ghanaian community, bishops and cardinals from Texas and around the U.S., and other local officials.