In his address to the Moderator of the Church of Scotland the Pope recalls the Egyptian Coptic Christians who were assassinated- A testimony cries out
“The blood of our
Christian brothers and sisters is a testimony which cries out”. Pope Francis
recalled the barbaric killing of a group of Egyptian Coptic Christians by
jihadists in Sirte. The Pope spoke about the situation – improvising a few
phrases in Spanish – in his address to the Moderator of the Church of Scotland, whom he received
on Monday morning, 16 February.
Today, the Pontiff
said, “I read about the execution of those twenty-one or twenty-two Coptic
Christians. Their only words were: ‘Jesus, help me!’. They were killed simply
for the fact that they were Christians. You, my brother, in your words referred
to what is happening in the land of Jesus. The blood of our Christian brothers
and sisters is a testimony which cries out to be heard. It makes no difference
whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts or Protestants. They are Christians!
Their blood is one and the same. Their blood confesses Christ. As we recall
these brothers and sisters who died only because they confessed Christ, I ask
that we encourage each another to go forward with this ecumenism which is
giving us strength, the ecumenism of blood. The martyrs belong to all
Christians”.