The Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli (Our Lady of Angels)
(The Anglican Church of Christ the King)
Welcome to the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, now used by the Anglican/Episcopal Church of the province of Jerusalem and the Middle East. This building finds its place and existence in the rich and tumultuous history of African Christianity and in particular of North African Christianity. Mar
k, Tertullian, Athanasius, Perpetua, Felicitas and Augustine contributing to this history one should be aware that there is more represented here than meets the eye. Not only was Libya the home of Simon of Cyrene who carried the cross for Jesus, Mk. 15:21, it is also the probable birth place of the gospel writer St. Mark whose mother, Mary, provided a meeting place for the first Christians, Acts 12:12. Further, the presence of people from Libya in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost about the year 30, Acts 2:10, and in the early church, Acts 11:20, as well as the near shipwreck of the boat carrying the Apostle Paul to Malta off the coast of Libya, Acts 27:17, add to the picture of Libyan history in the early days of Christianity. This is the ultimate historical background of this building. The existence of this site, though only indirectly related to those early New Testament events and to the remains of other church ruins in Libya from Byzantine times, is more directly related to the clash of civilizations that occurred in the Middle Ages and its repercussions. About the year 1680 the Apostolic Prefect of the Roman Catholic Church in Tripoli received a gift of land in what is now the Old City that he allocated to the Franciscan Order which he then invited to Tripoli to care for the captives taken in the struggle for the control of the Mediterranean Sea. The property was developed to include a hospice and a chapel dedicated to “Our Lady of the Angels.”
With time the foreign Christian community grew so that on 14th of Sept. 1703 a stone was laid to dedicate a new church building to accommodate the larger community. This increase of Catholic Christians continued. In 1823 permission was granted to re-build the church. On the 2nd of August 1829 the new church was consecrated on the feast of Our Lady of Angels. The present building situated on this long established site is the latest development in this process. The 1st stone was laid in 1889 and the building completed in 1897. Later it was floored and a belfry added. Again in 1916 it was repaired and consecrated by the Apostolic Vicar, Mgr. Ludovico Antonelli. Characteristically the church building has continued to reflect historical developments. During the Second World War as the Desert Rats led by General Montgomery’s successors chased the Desert Fox, General Rommel and his army, bombing broke its stained glass windows. With the triumph of the Allied Powers in 1945, their establishment of military bases here in Libya and their subsequent departure, along with the majority of the Italians who had remained following the war, another important page in history turned. This site which had seen continuous Christian activity since 1680 was suddenly empty. It was into this void of spiritual activity that the Anglican Church, which has been active in Tripoli since 1953, but which had lost its premises, made its request through its diocesan bishop, now Anglican/Episcopal primate of Jerusalem and the Middle East, Bishop Mouneer H. Anis, to use the building for Christian worship. With the approval of the Libyan authorities and the Roman Catholic Bishop, Mgr. Martinelli, this request was granted. Today it The church stands as a monument to an abiding faith that mirrors the words of Jesus Christ, the Lord of the Church, who in Matthew 16:18 said, “I will build my church.” Over the years, generations have prayed, confessed their faith and followed in the footsteps of him who said, “I am the way, the truth and the life,” and found comfort and direction in his invitation, “come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28.
