About Saint Matthew Ayariga Catholic Church in Arlington, Texas:
The parish is a personal parish created to serve the growing Ghanaian Catholic community in North Texas. Since 2007, this community has met weekly at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Arlington, celebrating Mass in the Twi language. The Diocese of Fort Worth and the Archdiocese of Kumasi in Ghana have collaborated, with Ghanaian priests providing pastoral care to shepherd the community Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth.
Saint Matthew Ayariga was a Ghanaian migrant worker in Libya who, in early 2015, was abducted by ISIS alongside 20 Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Christians. Faced with the choice of renouncing his faith or being executed, he chose to remain steadfast.
When asked if he was a Christian, he reportedly replied, “Their God is my God”, affirming his solidarity with his fellow captives. He was beheaded on February 15, 2015, with his companions.
Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria canonized Ayariga and the other 20 martyrs in 2015, and Pope Francis later recognized them as saints, adding them to the Roman Martyrology.
Traveling to Saint Matthew Ayariga Catholic Church in Arlington, Texas:
Address: 1400 South Cooper Street in Arlington, Texas.