Pope condemns ISIS execution of 21 Christians for their faith and says 'martyrs' blood confesses Christ'

Pope Francis has today condemned the beheading of 21 Coptic Egyptians by ISIS militants, saying all Christians 'be they Catholics, Orthodox, Copts or Lutherans' are one faith, proclaiming the murdered men martyrs.

The Pope unexpectedly went off script following a meeting with a representative of the Church of Scotland in the Vatican, making a short speech in his native Spanish in which he claimed the murdered Egyptians' last words were 'Jesus help me'.

The religious leader's unscheduled remarks followed reports by local media that another 35 Egyptians have been kidnapped in areas of Libya controlled by local Islamist militants and ISIS.

The abductions of the Egyptians came after Egypt exacted its revenge on Islamic State militants today with air strikes which a military chief claims killed at least 50 people. READMORE

Released last night, a new video by ISIS showed the beheading of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians on a beach in Libya