Flavianus Michael Melki

Who they were

Flavianus Michael Melki, called Jacob in the world, was born at the end of 1858 in the village of Kalaat Mara near Mardin, into a Syriac Orthodox family; he was sent in 1868 to the monastery of Saint Ananias at Zaafaran, was made a deacon in 1878 and became its librarian and teacher, and then, against his family's resistance, entered the Catholic Church and went to Lebanon to complete his formation. He became a member of the Congregation of the Brothers of Saint Ephrem and bishop of Gazireh of the Syrians, and on 29 August 1915 he was taken in chains with his fellow prisoners to the bank of the Tigris, stripped and shot, after he had refused outright the demand that he become a Muslim.

Pope Francis declared his martyrdom on 8 August 2015, and he was beatified on 29 August 2015.

The miracles

As a martyr he was raised to the altars without a miracle.

Why that counted as sanctity

The Acta Apostolicae Sedis decree records that he was killed for his faith in Christ and the Church, having refused to renounce it.