Patriarch of the Coptic Orthodox Church Pope Tawadros II has offered funeral Mass at St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in the Abbassia District of Cairo for the 21 martyrs of "faith and homeland" who were killed by members of the terrorist "ISIS" organization in Libya.

In his homily, Pope Tawadros said: "As we mark death, we can only believe that God controls everything and runs everything. God is the maker of goodness as He manages everything. Our faith gives us satisfaction and excludes from within us any grumbling or objection since the history of our homeland and Church attests that whenever a martyr falls our faith gets stringer."

He continued: "Death ends all forms of pain, for through death human suffering on Earth comes to an end including disease and fear. In death there is selection for the Bible says,'Blessed are those you choose and bring near to live in your courts!' It is also a meeting in the divine presence having the celestial bliss."

Pope Tawadros added: "We witnessed the firmness of our brethren who moved to heavens with their eyes fixed on the sky. How great it is for a dying Man to call on God and to urge "whoever performs evil, violence, injustice and oppression to be alert as Man's destiny is determined by good deeds, faith and love for others."