Three Egyptian Coptic clergymen have been “brutally killed” internal a monastery in South Africa, the Church has stated.
Father Takla Moussa, Father Minah ava Marcus and Father Youstos ava Marcus had been murdered early on Tuesday, the South African Archdiocese of the Coptic Orthodox Church stated in an announcement.
An Egyptian member of the Church has been arrested as a probable suspect.
The homicide has despatched shockwaves all through the Coptic Orthodox network in South Africa and beyond.”Our ache and sadness, no amount [of] phrases can express, however, we recognise that they have a good time in paradise inside the bosom of our Fathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob,” the Church announcement stated.
Archbishop Angaelos of the Coptic Orthodox Church in London defined the murders as “saddening and shocking”.
They had been killed at the Saint Mark and Saint Samuel the Confessor monastery positioned in Cullinan, a small city 30 km (18 miles) east of the capital, Pretoria.
All 3 had been located with stab wounds, provincial police spokesperson Col Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi became quoted as pronouncing with the aid of using Reuters information agency.
A survivor informed the police he became hit with the aid of an iron rod however controlled to break out and hide.
The police are nevertheless seeking to decide the cause for the killings, Col Nevhuhulwi stated, including that the attackers “reportedly left the scene without taking any treasured item(s)”.
Violent crime ranges are excessive in South Africa and the United States has one of the world`s maximum homicide rates.
Monks inside the Coptic Orthodox Church, one of the world’s oldest churches, dedicate their lives to prayer and religious growth.