Our hearts are heavy as we join the world in mourning the Egyptian Christians beheaded in a video released Sunday by the Islamic State in Libya. The twenty-one Coptic Christians, part of the largest concentration of Christians in the Middle East, had been taken hostage. Our deepest sympathies are with the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. With equal horror and outrage we also condemn these senseless murders, and call on the global ecumenical and interfaith community to cry out loudly for peace, justice, and an immediate end to these ruthless, violent acts.
The Reverend Gradye Parsons
Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)