A Catholic website has posted a gruesome video , claiming it shows Syrian rebels beheading a monk . Catholic Online -- a news and information outlet -- put the video on its website Monday . It shows the slaughtering of three people in northern Syria 's Idlib province . The site says one of the three is Father Francois Murad . Read more : Plight of child brides in Syria . Those carrying out the acts `` speak Arabic with a broken accent , saying that through this act , they are applying the law of God , '' Catholic Online says . People in the crowd appear to be taking videos of the executioners . `` It is very important the world knows that Christians are being murdered for their faith , and that martyrdom is n't an ancient phenomenon , '' Catholic Online said in a report Monday . `` This should make it clear to Christians around the world what jihadists are about . Make no mistake . Catholics and Christians around the globe are under dire threat , particularly from the spread of militant Islam . Until the threat is recognized and taken seriously , martyrdoms like this will continue . '' Read more : Angelina Jolie turns spotlight on Syria . A Vatican spokesman said he was not aware of any video showing the execution of the monk , whose death the Vatican announced last week . The office of the Custodians of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem said to its knowledge there is no such video . Catholic Online cites local sources linking the militants who killed the monk to Jabhat al-Nusra , an Islamist rebel group regarded as a terrorist entity by the United States . `` The video CLEARLY depicts the beheadings of these victims , '' Catholic Online said . `` DO NOT follow the link unless you are over the age of 18 , and are prepared to view content of this nature . '' The images renew the daily fears of Christians in the Middle East . They have had a longtime presence in the region and have faced violence , persecution and displacement in recent years . Read more : Returning to Syria 's ghost town . Christians in Syria have been caught in the crossfire of the country 's civil war , in which a government dominated by minority Alawite Muslims is squaring off with a rebellion dominated by Sunni Muslims . They 've also faced hostility in other places , such as Iraq during the war last decade and in Egypt in recent years . Last week , the Vatican noted the monk 's death in a news release , saying it occurred June 23 in Gassanieh -- a predominantly Christian village in the district of Jisr al-Shughur in the province of Idlib , near the border with Turkey . `` The village had been under attack from Islamist rebels for the past few weeks , forcing the majority of the population to flee , '' the Vatican said , citing the Rev . Pierbattista Pizzaballa , head of all Franciscans in the Holy Land . `` When Fr . Francois tried to oppose resistance to defend the nuns and other people , the guerrillas shot him , killing him , '' it said . The violence in Syria since March 2011 has been well-recorded in homemade videos that have surfaced daily . Constant examples of brutality by President Bashar al-Assad 's forces have emerged . Over the past year , there also have been a growing number of images showing rebel brutality . More than 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict , which began as peaceful opposition to the al-Assad regime . As the regime cracked down on the protesters , the conflict morphed into a full-blown civil war .
Catholic Online : ` ` ' is n't an ancient word '' They have been caught in the Syrian civil war 's crossfire . Sources say the militants are linked to Jabhat al - Islam , Catholic Online said .