Pope Francis Decries Recent Islamic State Beheading of Egyptian Christians
Pope Francis has denounced the recent beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya at the hands of the Islamic State terror group.
The pontiff deviated from his planned script Monday while addressing the Church of Scotland to express his dismay at the recent tragedy. Libyan sympathizers of the Islamic State uploaded a video to a social media account over the weekend showing 21 Egyptian Christians, also known as Copts, being beheaded by Islamic State militants.
"Their only words were: 'Jesus, help me!' They were killed simply for the fact that they were Christians," Francis said at the event, as reported by The Washington Post.
"The blood of our Christian brothers and sisters is a testimony which cries out be heard. It makes no difference whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts or Protestants. They are Christians!" Francis added.
Francis added that all Christians should be united against such violence carried out by terrorist groups. "Be they Catholic, Orthodox, Copts, Lutherans, it doesn't matter: They're Christian! The blood is the same: It is the blood which confesses Christ," the pope said.
On Monday, both Libya and Egypt confirmed that Egypt had carried out a series of airstrikes against Islamic State strongholds in Libya, killing about 50 militants.
"Egypt preserves the right to respond, with the appropriate manner and timing, in order to carry out retribution on those killers and criminals who are stripped of the most basic of human values," President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi of Egypt said in a statement to the New York Times.
