Franciscan Father Francois Murad was killed along with two others in Idlib in northern Syria on Sunday, according to the Israel National News report, which cited the New York Daily News. The beheading was published on the Internet, the aforementioned report added.
The Vatican confirmed the death on Monday. Local sources also notified it that Murad had sought refuge in a convent—the Custody of the Holy Land—but terrorists linked with the al-Qaeda run jihadist group, Jabhat al-Nusra (Al-Nusra Front), had killed him. Reports from last week also noted that the very same jihadist group had acquired a Jordanian soldier, the first military official to leave Amman for Syria.
The video reportedly shows Murad bound and cross-legged, as men shout at him in Arabic. Several onlookers continue to film the violence and get closer to the body despite the goriness of it all, according to Israel National News, which described the video.
Murad reportedly went to the area to construct a coenobitic monastery, according to the Vatican’s press release quoted in the Daily News, the aforementioned Israel National News report added.