The Archbishop of Canterbury ( above ) yesterday called on Christians to use non-violent means of resistance when faced with persecution by extremists - days after an attack in Kenya killed 150 people . The Archbishop of Canterbury yesterday called on Christians to use non-violent means of resistance when faced with persecution by extremists . In the wake of the slaughter of Christian students in Kenya and the barbarity of Islamic State militants , the Most Reverend Justin Welby said the dead were ‘ martyrs ’ . Delivering his Easter sermon in Canterbury Cathedral , he said : ‘ Christians must resist without violence the persecution they suffer and support persecuted communities , with love and goodness and generosity. ’ Dr Welby told his congregation that the killing of Christians over the past year had been a ‘ wicked ’ development . ‘ To witness is to be a martyr , ’ he said . ‘ I am told by the Coptic Bishop in England that the Coptic Christians murdered in Libya last month died proclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord . They are martyrs , a word that means both one that dies for their faith and one that witnesses to faith . ‘ There have been so many martyrs in the last year . On Maundy Thursday , three days ago , around 150 Kenyans were killed because of being Christian . They are witnesses , unwilling , unjustly , wickedly , and they are martyrs in both senses of the word. ’ The archbishop said their Christian faith meant the martyrs would defeat evil despite ‘ their cruel deaths , the brutality of their persecution ’ . Dr Welby ’ s praise of martyrdom was made as Pope Francis called for governments to intervene in Syria and Iraq . In his Easter address in the Vatican City ’ s St Peter ’ s Square , the Pope said : ‘ May the international community not stand by before the immense humanitarian tragedy unfolding in these countries and the drama of the numerous refugees. ’ Pope Francis also spoke of the suffering of the victims persecuted for being Christian . He said that Christians ‘ do not need to employ violence ; they speak and act with the power of truth , beauty and love ’ . A priest similarly conducts an Easter Sunday service at the Catholic Church in Garissa , Kenya , where the attack happened . Officers from the Kenya Defence Forces and the Kenya Red Cross place an injured woman on a Nairobi-bound plane for specialised treatment . Some of the Garissa University students who were rescued comfort each other at the nearby military camp . He added : ‘ We ask Jesus to lighten the sufferings of our many brothers and sisters who are persecuted for his name , and of all those who suffer injustice as a result of ongoing conflicts and violence . ‘ We ask for peace , above all , for Syria and Iraq , that the roar of arms may cease and that peaceful relations may be restored among the various groups which make up those beloved countries. ’ Pope Francis told the thousands gathered in the square for the Easter mass that he prayed ‘ that the present absurd bloodshed and all barbarous acts of violence may cease ’ . The Pope said he also prayed for peace in Libya and the Middle East . A general view of the Garissa Catholic Church , which has remained closed after an attack by gunmen on Thursday at a university campus . Kenya ’ s special forces took seven hours to arrive at the scene of the massacre at Garissa University , it emerged yesterday . The assault by Somali-based Al Shabaab militants , which killed nearly 150 Christians , was Kenya ’ s deadliest terror attack since the 1998 bombing of the US embassy . Yet troops from the country ’ s elite Recce Company did not arrive at the campus until 2pm – seven hours after Thursday ’ s dawn attack was launched . Reporters based in Nairobi , who drove 225 miles to Garissa after hearing the first reports of the attack , arrived before the special forces flew in . It also emerged yesterday that one of the Islamist gunmen responsible for the massacre was the missing son of a senior government official . He was identified as law graduate Abdirahim Mohammed Abdullahi , son of a Kenyan regional government official in Mandera County .
Archbishop of Canterbury also said the dead were 'martyrs ' in speech . Pope Francis called for governments to intervene in Syria and Iraq .