The Vatican’s Secretary of State said he would accept UN-led military intervention in Libya, after Islamic State (IS) jihadists beheaded 21 Coptic Christians.
Cardinal Pietro Parolin said the situation there was “serious” and action should be taken soon, “under the framework of international law” and “under the umbrella of the United Nations.”
Cardinal Parolin was speaking to journalists after an event at the Italian Embassy to the Holy See.
He also said it was important to “re-launch a diplomatic initiative” in Libya, where competing authorities control different parts of the country, and IS has gained a significant foothold.
Cardinal Parolin praised the slain Copts for “the witness these martyrs gave”. He said he prayed that “the Lord give us the grace to die in the same way”.
Pope Francis today urged the international community to find peaceful solutions to the situation in Libya.
Speaking after his General Audience, he asked for prayers for our “Egyptian brothers who were killed in Libya three days ago for the mere fact of being Christians”, and for peace across the Middle East and in North Africa.
Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi yesterday called for a United Nations resolution that would permit international forces to intervene in Libya. He told French radio there was no other choice. "We will not allow them to cut off the heads of our children," he said.
The UN Security Council is holding an emergency session today to discuss the crisis.
Since Saturday, when footage of the beheadings was released, there have been reports of further abductions by insurgent groups of Egyptians in Libya, some of them Copts.
Libya’s media office for the General National Congress released a statement telling all Egyptians there to leave in the next 48 hours “for their own safety”, the Libya Herald reported yesterday.
Last week the Archbishop of Erbil, Bashar Warda, called for greater military intervention against IS in Iraq. He told a parliamentary reception in Westminster: “It is very hard for me as a Catholic bishop to say we have to advocate military actions, but we have to go for that. There is no other option. Attacks happening now have stopped some of [IS’] activities but it is not enough.”
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