Scottish Catholic Observer

“With great distress and sadness I learn of the further shocking violence perpetrated against innocent Christians in Libya,” the Pope said in a message to Patriarch Abuna Matthias of the Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Church.

ISIS released a video this week depicting the slaughter of Christians in Libya, showing footage of two massacres in which 30 Ethiopian Christians were killed. Before the executions a masked militant said: “To the nation of the cross, we’re back again… Muslim blood that was shed under the hands of your religion is not cheap. We swear to Allah… you will not have safety even in your dreams until you embrace Islam.”

The atrocities were shown in a 29-minute video entitled Until There Came to Them Clear Evidence. In one massacre 15 Christians were beheaded; in the other 15 people were shot in the head.

The video sought to justify the way Christians were treated in ISIS-held areas. Interviews were shown with a Christian mechanic and a doctor living in Raqqa who said they had paid the jizya, an extortion tax on non-Muslims. The video said Christians needed to either pay the jizya, convert to Islam or face being killed. The video then shows scenes of ISIS members destroying churches, crosses and paintings depicting the Virgin Mary, before moving on to show the massacre of the Ethiopian Christians.