The Blaze is reporting that Fr. Francois Murad, 49, was in the process of setting up a monastery in the northern Syrian town of Gassanieh when militants intent on toppling Syrian president Bashar Assad breached the building and killed him.
Although original reports said Murad was killed by gunfire, the Vatican ha confirmed that he was "martyred" via beheading by Syrian jihadists on June 23.
The radical Al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra, or Al-Nusra Front, has taken responsibility for the murder.
In videos posted online which allege to show the execution, dozens of men and boys are seen cheering as three mean are seated on the ground and methodically beheaded, one at a time, by what appears to be a simple kitchen knife. When the grisly murders are complete, the onlookers begin singing Allahu Akbar (Alla is the greatest) and capture the bloody scene on their smart phones.
News of the brutal slayings is raising alarms around the world about the wisdom of western nations, including the U.S., who are rushing to the aid of Syrian rebels whose ranks are permeated with extremists who are intent on persecuting Christians.
"This should make it clear to Christians around the world what jihadists are about," reports Catholic Online. "Make no mistake. Catholics and [other] Christians around the globe are under dire threat, particularly from the spread of militant Islam. Until the threat is recognized and taken seriously, martyrdoms like this will continue."
Franciscan Fr. Pierbattista Pizzaballa told the Vatican News Agency that “ . . . (S)yria has now become a battleground not only between Syrian forces, but also between Arab countries and the international community. And those paying the price are the poor, the young and the Christians. That the international community must put a stop to all this”.
He added: “The world must know that the support of gunmen by the west is helping extremists in killing Syrians. With such stances, not a single Christian will remain in the East.”
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