Gulf Pine Catholic
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February 27, 2015
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Pope seeks prayers for Egyptians beheaded by Islamic State
BY CAROL GLATZ
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Francis called for
prayers for the Egyptian Christians beheaded by Islamic
State militants in Libya and asked that God recognize
these men killed for their faith.
He offered morning Mass Feb. 17 in the chapel of
his residence for the slain Christians he termed “our 21
brother Copts” whose throats had been slit “for the sole
reason of being Christians,” and he requested people
pray for the victims so “that the Lord welcome them as
martyrs.”
He called on people to pray as well for the victims’
families and for Egypt’s Orthodox leader, Pope
Tawadros II, “who is suffering so much.” Pope Francis
called Pope Tawadros Feb. 16 to express his sorrow
over the deaths.
Egypt, meanwhile, continued to mourn its 21
nationals, who had been working in Libya when the
extremist group kidnapped them. Their beheading was
depicted in gruesome detail in a video released Feb. 15
on a pro-Islamic State website.
The same evening in a nationally televised speech,
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on his
country’s government to provide full support to the
families of the victims and vowed that Egypt main-
tained the right to retaliate.
Soon afterward, the Egyptian air force began bomb-
ing what it said were Islamic State targets in Libya.
In a statement issued Feb. 16 by the Coptic Catholic
Church, Patriarch Ibrahim Isaac Sedrak of Alexandria,
Egypt, extended his church’s “deepest sympathies” to
the families and relatives of the murdered Christians.
In apparent reference to the retaliatory military
action his country has since taken, Patriarch Sedrak
also extended his church’s “deepest gratitude” to al-Sisi
and “our country’s loyal armed forces, especially the
air forces, for the rapid response.”
Pope Tawadros II of Alexandria, patriarch of the
Coptic Orthodox Church, leads a Feb. 17 service at
St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in Cairo for
the Egyptians said to have been beheaded in Libya.
A video released on social media Feb. 15 is said to
show the beheadings.
CNS photo/Mohamed Abd El Ghany,
Reuters
“Egyptian blood is valuable and honorable,” he
said.
Speaking after the video of the beheadings surfaced
-- but before the strikes against Islamic State in Libya
were announced -- Pope Tawadros offered his church’s
condolences to the relatives of the slain Christian
migrant workers, most of whom local media reported
had been from the same impoverished village in
Egypt’s South.
Pope Tawadros said he trusted the way predomi-
nantly Muslim Egypt’s government was handling the
situation.
“We trust that the role of all institutions of our state
was clear since the beginning of the crisis in Libya, and
we believe that they can ensure rights of Egyptian citi-
zens,” the Egyptian portal Ahram Online quoted Pope
Tawadros as saying.
Condemnation for the beheading of the Egyptian
Christians in Libya quickly grew beyond Egypt as
regional leaders, Muslim and Christian alike, learned of
the massacre.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II, whose country is also
fighting Islamic State militants in neighboring Iraq and
Syria, called the beheadings of the Egyptian Christians
a “heinous crime” committed “at the hands of the ter-
rorist gang ... hostile to all human values.”
Jordan’s Information Minister Mohammed al-
Momani accused the Islamic State of “inciting blind
hatred” with the killings, while Father Rifat Bader of
the Catholic Center for Studies and Media in Amman
called the beheadings a “crime not only against Arab
Christians, but a crime against humanity.”
The Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate in Amman sched-
uled prayers of remembrance Feb. 18, and the heads
and representatives of all church denominations in
Jordan were expected to attend the service.
The foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates,
Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, meanwhile,
referred to the Islamic State extremists as “sick souls
frantic to shed the blood of innocents.”
Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali, chancellor of
the Latin Patriarchate in Jerusalem, noted that
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for three
days of mourning following the beheadings.
“It is unbelievable that this is happening in the 21st
century,” said Bishop Shomali. “There is too much
brutality. But what gives us comfort as Christians is the
strong Muslim reaction against (the beheadings.) We do
not feel alone, and Christians are united with all moder-
ate Muslims, who are the majority.”
He said Christians and moderate Muslims in Israel
and the Palestinian territories are less fearful of an
Islamic State infiltration or attack than those in Jordan,
since Jordan is surrounded by countries with a strong
Islamic State presence and has joined the Western
coalition fighting ISIS forces the militants.
Contributing to this story were Dale Gavlak in
Amman, James Martone in Washington and Judith
Sudilovsky in Jerusalem.
Father Thaddeus Searles, S.T., former pastor of
Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, dies in Atlanta
Father Thaddeus Searles, S.T.,
who served as pastor of Our Lady of
Lourdes Parish in Pass Christian
from 2000 to 2005, died on Feb. 20
in Atlanta, Georgia. He was 90.
Father Thaddeus was born in
New Jersey on August 31, 1924, and
was the youngest of twelve children.
After serving in the Army Air Corps
during World War II, he entered the
seminary of the Missionary Servants
of the Most Holy Trinity in Holy Trinity, Alabama in
1946. Ordained in 1956, he served 58 years in missions
throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, Colombia
and, as a senior minister, in Holy Trinity until his death.
He is remembered with thanksgiving by a multitude of
nieces and nephews, family members and friends, the
Brothers, priests, Sisters and lay missionaries of the
Missionary Cenacle Family, the people of St. Joseph
Parish and countless others touched by his goodness,
joy and love.
In a 2000 interview with the
Gulf Pine Catholic
,
Father Thaddeus, who was 76 at the time, said, “I’ve
enjoyed my priesthood. I don’t think anybody ever
truly enjoys happiness unless they can reach out to
other people and I think that’s the most rewarding part
about being a priest. Just because I reach a certain age,
I don’t think I should have to retire. If I can do the
work, I should be able to do the work. I’d just as soon
die on the job than sit in a nursing home or retirement
home twiddling my thumbs.”
A Funeral Mass was celebrated on Feb. 24 at St.
Joseph Church in Fort Mitchell, Alabama, followed by
burial. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the
Blessed Trinity Shrine Retreat (107 Holy Trinity Rd.,
Fort Mitchell, AL 36856) where Father Thaddeus
served as chaplain.
Father Searles
Lenten Healing Service
BAY ST. LOUIS -- A Lenten Healing Service will
be held at St. Rose de Lima Parish, 301 South Necaise
Avenue, March 3-5, at 6 pm each evening. Speakers
will include Ms. Lawankia Williams and Valena Jones
(March 3), Father Walter Bracken, SVD (March 4) and
Sean Graham (March 5). Music will be provided by
choirs from St. Rose de Lima Parish and Our Mother of
Mercy Parish in Pass Christian. A penance service will
be included on March 5.
For more information, (228) 467-7347.
