Copts died in Libya with the name of Jesus on their lips, bishop testifies
February 18, 2015
The Coptic Christians who were slaughtered by the Islamic State died with the name of Jesus on their lips, an Egyptian Catholic bishop told the Fides news service.
Bishop Anba Antonios Aziz Mina, who heads the Coptic Catholic diocese of Giuzeh, said that a videotape of the mass execution clearly showed several men saying, “Lord, Jesus Christ!”
“The name of Jesus was their last word,” Bishop Mina said. “This was how they celebrated their victory, a victory of which no executioner could ever rob them. With that name, whispered at the very last, their martyrdom was sealed.”
The Egyptian bishop observed that the videotape of the beheadings was obviously “staged to spread terror.” But despite the horror, it confirmed the witness of the martyrs, he observed.
Bishop Mina reported that the Egyptian government has announced plans for the construction of a new Coptic Orthodox church, dedicated to the martyrs, in Minya, the city from which most of the victims hailed.
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