Pope: ‘The Blood of Our Christian Brothers and Sisters Cries Out to Be Heard’
Holy Father mourns in response to the horrific beheadings of 21 Egyptian Christians by the Islamic State.
VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis is mourning the 21 Egyptian Christians beheaded by the Islamic State, calling them martyrs that “belong to all Christians.”
“The blood of our Christian brothers and sisters is a testimony which cries out to be heard,” the Pope said. “Their only words were: 'Jesus, help me!'”
Pope Francis made these off-the-cuff remarks in his native Spanish on Sunday, one day after the release of a video from the self-proclaimed Islamic State purporting to show the grisly beheadings of 21 Coptic Christians from Egypt.
“It makes no difference whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts or Protestants,” the Holy Father continued. “They are Christians! Their blood is one and the same. Their blood confesses Christ.”
They were killed “only because they confessed Christ,” the Pope said. “I ask that we encourage each other to go forward with this ecumenism, which is giving us strength, the ecumenism of blood. The martyrs belong to all Christians.”
On Monday, Egypt's military launched airstrikes against Libya in retaliation for the deaths of the Egyptian Christians, according to The New York Times.
The beheadings occurred weeks after some 20 Coptic Christians had gone missing near the coastal city of Surt, also known as Sirte, the report continued.
Many Egyptians, including Copts, travel to Libya seeking employment opportunities.
This is not the first time Egyptian Christians have been targeted in Libya. Last month, an Egyptian Christian teen and her parents were found dead in Surt.
Libyan authorities discovered the bodies of seven Egyptian Christians last February near militant-held parts of Benghazi.
Rev. John Chalmers, moderator for the Church of Scotland, was present for Pope Francis’ comments Sunday. In an interview with CNA shortly after his audience with the Pope, Rev. Chalmers said Pope Francis is a man of humility and prayer who “is feeling for those Coptic Christians who have been martyred.”
“In reflecting on that, it is clear that whatever denomination that Christians come from they are one," he said.
Throughout his pontificate, Pope Francis has frequently condemned violence against Christians in the Middle East. During his urbi et orbi address on Christmas Day 2014, he called for peace in Libya, as well as in Nigeria, South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
