Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Francis urged the international community to work to find peaceful solutions in Libya three days after a video emerged apparently showing the murder of 21 Coptic Christians in the country.

Speaking after his weekly general audience this morning, the Pope referred to the difficult situation in Libya and asked for prayers for our ‘Egyptian brothers who were killed in Libya three days ago for the mere fact of being Christians.’

The Holy Father prayed that the Lord may receive them in heaven and give comfort to their families and communities and prayed for all those who have died or been wounded or made refugees in North Africa and the Middle East.

The Pope also welcomed the bishops of the Ukraine—where fighting between government forces and pro-Russian rebels continues despite a ceasefire deal—who are in Rome for the five-yearly ad limina pilgrimage that Bishop’s of every diocese in the world need to make under canon law.

The Holy Father said the bishops’ visit ‘brought the appeal for peace in Ukraine to the tombs of the Apostles.’

“I share the same desire in my heart and I join in your prayer that soon there will be lasting peace in your native land,” he added.

Earlier during his general audience, the Pope told pilgrims in St Peter’s Square that the words ‘brother’ and ‘sister’ are words that Christianity loves very much.

Continuing his catechesis on the family, he said: “The bond of brotherhood that is formed between the children in the family, if it takes place in a climate of an education open to others, is the great school of freedom and peace. Maybe we are not always aware of this, but it is the family that introduces brotherhood into the world!

“From this first experience of brotherhood, nourished by affection and by family education, style of fraternity radiates like a promise throughout society and relations between peoples.

“Brotherhood in the family is particularly illuminating when we see the care, patience, affection with which the weaker, sick, or disabled brother or sister are surrounded. World over there are many brothers and sisters who do this, and maybe we do not appreciate their generosity enough.”

Pope Francis concluded by saying that ‘today more than ever it is necessary to bring brotherhood back to the heart of our technocratic and bureaucratic society: only then will freedom and equality take on the correct intonation.’

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