Pope Francis this morning offered Mass for the repose of the souls of the 21 Coptic Christians beheaded by Islamic State jihadists in Libya.
As he prepared to begin Mass, Francis invited the congregation to pray with him for “our brother Copts, whose throats were slit for the sole reason of being Christian, that the Lord welcome them as martyrs.”
He also asked them to pray for the families of the dead and for the Coptic pope, “my brother Tawadros, who is suffering greatly.”
On Monday evening Francis made a personal phonecall to Tawadros, to express his sorrow at the murders.
The Pope’s personal secretary, Abuna Yoannis Lahzi Gaid, who is Coptic Catholic, attended this morning's Mass in the chapel of the Domus Sancta Marthae, where he resides.
In his homily the Pope condemned the arms trade. “There are wars, arms trafficking ... 'But, we are businessmen!' Yes, but of what? Of death? And there are countries that sell weapons, are at war with one side but also selling weapons to them, so that the war continues. A capacity for destruction. It’s not coming from our neighbours: it’s coming from us!”
Yesterday Francis described the Copts who had died as “brothers” and “martyrs”.
Speaking to Revd John Chalmers, Moderator of the Church of Scotland, he said their deaths must strengthen ecumenism, adding: “They said only: "Jesus, help me!"
IS released a propaganda video on Sunday which appears to show a number of men dressed in orange jumpsuits being simultaneously beheaded on a beach in Libya. During the video an English-speaking jihadi said: “The sea you have hidden Sheikh Osama bin Laden's body in, we swear to Allah, we will mix it with your blood."
Pope Francis said the blood of his fellow Christians cried out.
“Catholic, Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran does not matter: they are Christians! And the blood is the same. The blood confesses Christ,” he said.
The Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on Monday visited Pope Tawadros II to express his condolences, hours after the Egyptian army carried out airstrikes on IS training camps and arms depots in Libya.
Pope Tawadros said in a statement: "We trust that the role of all institutions of our state was clear since the beginning of the crisis in Libya, and we believe that they can ensure rights of Egyptian citizens."
Al-Sisi had said in a televised speech on Sunday night that Egypt reserved its right to retaliate against the killing of the 21 Egyptian Copts.
In Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron phoned the head of the Coptic Church in the UK, Bishop Angaelos, on Monday afternoon, and described the attacks as “barbaric and inhumane”.
Downing Street said that in the course of the phonecall Mr Cameron stressed that the UK would continue to do all it can to work as part of the coalition tackling IS internationally, and to prevent their singling out of religious groups.
Above: General al-Sisi with Pope Tawadros (right) on Monday. Photo: the Egyptian Presidency/Handout via Reuters
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