Pope Francis on Monday condemned the Islamic State’s purported beheading of 21 Egyptian Christians in Libya, calling those killed “martyrs who belong to all Christians.”

“Today I read about the execution of those twenty-one or twenty-two Coptic Christians,” Pope Francis said, addressing leaders in the Church of Scotland. “Their only words were: ‘Jesus, help me!’ They were killed simply because they were Christians.”

ISIS released a video Sunday which it claimed showed the execution of the Coptic Christians, who were being held hostage by the terrorist organization.

“The blood of our Christian brothers and sisters is a witness that cries out to be heard,” the pope said. “It makes no difference whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts or Protestants,” the pope said, according to a Vatican transcript. “They are Christians! Their blood is one and the same. Their blood confesses Christ.”

Read the article “Pope Francis Denounces IS Beheadings of Coptic Christians” on washingtonpost.com.