Pope Francis on Tuesday prayed for 21 Coptic Christians in Egypt murdered by the so-called Islamic State. He asked: “What is happening in the hearts of man?”
JOSHUA J. MCELWEE
VATICAN CITY
February 17, 2015 Pope Francis on Tuesday offered prayers for 21 Coptic Christians in Egypt murdered by the so-called Islamic State, asking that God “welcome them as martyrs.”
The pontiff, speaking in his daily morning homily at Casa Santa Marta, also cried out again for a stop to conflicts around the world and to a ceasing of arms trafficking.
Saying that one only need open a newspaper to see that “90 percent of the news is news of destruction” around the world, Francis asked: “What is happening in the hearts of man?”
Jesus, he said, reminds us that “from the heart of man comes all evil.” Our “weak heart,” the pope said, “is wounded.”