UK archbishop speaks of ‘Christian martyrs’

The leader of the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby has given his Easter Sunday Sermon at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor, paying tribute to Christian “martyrs” overseas.

As millions of Christians in Britain celebrated Easter on Sunday, the Archbishop remembered ‘the thousands who were killed for being Christian in Africa and the Middle East,’ calling them martyrs.

"There have been so many martyrs in the last year,” the Archbishop said. “On Maundy Thursday, three days ago around 150 Kenyans were killed because of being Christian. They are witnesses, unwilling, unjustly, wickedly, and they are martyrs in both senses of the word," He added.

Kenya has been holding three day of mourning for the killings.

He also touched on the killing of Coptic Christians in Libya last month, saying: "I am told by the Coptic Bishop in England that the Coptic Christians murdered in Libya last month died proclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord. They are martyrs, a word that means both one that dies for their faith and one that witnesses to faith.”

He said Christians should resist persecution but without violence.

At a Good Friday ceremony two days ago, Pope Francis said the international community was guilty of "complicit silence" in the face of attacks against these people.

The Charity, Open Doors, that monitors Christian persecution worldwide, says life for Christians is getting more difficult in most of the 50 countries it monitors.

NM/GHN

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