Pope Francis today lamented the "devastating outbreak of violence against Christians" in the Middle East, but said that Islamist violence is uniting the Church around the world.

During a meeting with the Patriarch of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Pope Mathias I, Francis said, "Shared sufferings have enabled Christians, otherwise divided in so many ways, to grow closer to one another."

"Just as in the early Church the shedding of the blood of martyrs became the seed of new Christians, so today the blood of the many martyrs of all the Churches has become the seed of Christian unity," he added.

"The martyrs and saints of all the ecclesial traditions are already one in Christ. Their names are inscribed in the one martyrologium of the Church of God. The ecumenism of the martyrs is a summons to us, here and now, to advance on the path to ever greater unity."

Of the intense persecution faced by Christians and other religious minorities at the hands of ISIS, Pope Francis said: "We cannot fail, yet again, to implore those who govern the world's political and economic life to promote a peaceful coexistence based on reciprocal respect and reconciliation, mutual forgiveness and solidarity."

According to a recent report by persecution charity Open Doors, Ethiopia has seen a "sharp rise" in persecution levels in the past year. It currently ranks 18th on the charity's list of the worst countries in which to be a Christian.

ISIS last year executed 30 Ethiopian Christians in Libya and released footage of the incident online. A subtitle referred to the victims as "worshippers of the cross belonging to the hostile Ethiopian church".

At the time, Mathias branded the murders "repugnant", and said the international community had a "duty to raise our voice to tell the world that the killing of the innocent like animals is completely unacceptable".