Pope Francis has offered his support to the Armenians of Qamishli, Syria, who are mourning the murder of their parish priest, Father Hovsep Bedoyan, who was killed together with his father.

“I am close to Armenian Catholics of Qamishli, in Syria,” the pontiff said in a tweet on Tuesday, November 12.

“I pray for them, their families, and for all Christians in Syria.”

The Islamic State group (IS) on Monday claimed responsibility for the murder of the Armenian Catholic Priest and his father in the northeast Syrian province of Deir ez-Zor.

IS claimed to have killed “two Christian priests” in al-Zir village, in the al-Busayrah sub-district of Deir ez-Zor.