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The 21 Coptic Martyrs of Libya are true Martyrs in the Church sense. That is, they died precisely because they were Christians and they showed great courage and endurance until the end. The Royal Passionbearers aren’t Martyrs… the Church rejects that. The Imperial Family didn’t die because they were Christians… they died because they were the Imperial Family. Passionbearers are those who suffer an unjust death at the hands of enemies and who show Christian forbearance unto the end. There is no “ranking” involved in being a Martyr or a Passionbearer. They’re equal. However, the terms recognise a difference in the objective reality of how the subject met their death. In the one case, they died because they were Christian. In the other, they met an unjust death in a Christian manner. It’s clear to all but the most pigheaded rightwing apologist that the Imperial Family didn’t die for the Faith… they died as they were representatives of a particular social and political order. To call them Martyrs is to blaspheme Martyrdom and spit on the Church’s Judgement.
Martyrdom is what it is… the Imperial Family aren’t Martyrs (it’s equally true that Lenin didn’t order their deaths… ROCOR rightwing lies to the contrary notwithstanding). Have a care… there are charlatans and poseurs afoot…
BMD
Voices from Russia 
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