{Pope Francis on Monday expressed “profound sadness” over the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians by Islamic militants in Libya, saying they had been killed for their faith.}<\/p>\n
“They were executed for nothing more than the fact that they were Christians,” Francis said in unscheduled remarks in his native Spanish following a meeting with John Chalmers, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.<\/p>\n
“The blood of our Christian sisters and brothers is testimony that cries out (to us),” the pontiff added.<\/p>\n
“Be they Catholics, Orthodox, Copts, Lutherans, it does not matter. They are Christians, their blood is the same, their blood confesses (their faith in) Christ.”<\/p>\n
Egypt on Monday launched air strikes against Islamic State targets in Libya on Monday after the jihadists posted a video showing the decapitations.<\/p>\n
The killings have been condemned around the world and were described as “barbaric” by Al-Azhar, the Cairo-based institution which is regarded as Sunni Islam’s leading theological authority. <\/p>\n
{{AFP}}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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