Metro Denver’s African immigrant community will hold a candlelight vigil Saturday and events Sunday and Monday to memorialize the 30 or more Ethiopian Christians shown killed by Islamic State militants in a video released Sunday.
Metro Denver is home to about 30,000 Ethiopians and Eritreans.
A candlelight vigil will start at 6 p.m. Saturday at St. Mary Ethiopian Orthodox Churchat 16250 E. Colfax Ave. in Aurora.
A Sunday morning service at the church will be a memorial from 10:30 a.m. to noon. Organizers are planning a spiritual service and rally at the state Capitol from 4 to 6 p.m. Monday to raise awareness of the “prosecution of Christian minorities in the Middle East,” said church spokesman Nebiyu Asfaw.
U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman of Aurora is expected to address the issue with the congregation and any others who wish to come May 17.
“Our community is mourning the slaughtering of the 30 Ethiopian Christian brothers in Libya by the barbaric extremists,” Asfaw said. “People have taken this very hard. It is heartbreaking to see such cruelty. It is incomprehensible for our minds to understand how any human being could do such a thing to another. We stand together to mourn our brethren and pray for peace.”
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174, jbunch@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joeybunch
