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| Pope Francis (AP) |
Vatican
City, 17 February 2015 (VIS) – Pope Francis offered this morning's
Mass in the Chapel of the Domus Sanctae Marthae for the 21 Egyptian
Copts murdered yesterday in Libya, whose funerals will be held today.
“Let
us offer this Mass for our 21 brother Copts, beheaded for the simple
fact of being Christians. Let us pray for them, so that the Lord may
welcome them as martyrs, for their families, and for my brother
Tawadros, who suffers deeply”.
He
went on to pronounce the antiphon from Psalm 31: “For You are my
rock and my fortress; therefore, for Your name’s sake, lead me and
guide me”.
Yesterday
afternoon the Holy Father telephoned the Patriarch, His Holiness Pope
Tawadros II, to express his participation in the profound sorrow of
the Orthodox Coptic Church for the recent barbaric massacre of
Egyptian Copts at the hands of Islamic fundamentalists. He assured
him of his prayers and today, the day of the victims' funerals,
joined spiritually in the prayers and the suffering of the Coptic
Church, in the morning Eucharistic celebration.
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