Pray for those who persecute you

The recent unprovoked and targeted murder of Coptic Christians in Libya has shocked many people around the world and caused immense sorrow and pain to their families and communities. As mentioned in my statement on 15 February, while every life is sacred and every death tragic, the brutality demonstrated in this instance and others like it shows a disregard for life and a gross misunderstanding of its sanctity. These young Coptic men were working in Libya to support their families in Egypt, and were fathers, brothers, sons and friends. They came from tight-knit but impoverished rural communities; now they will never return. They were breadwinners for their families, who are not only robbed of the joy of their presence but left with a significant financial void. While their captors soug