“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”.
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