Ed and Paula Kassig, the parents of Abdul-Rahman Kassig, the U.S. aid worker beheaded by ISIS militants, called Monday for forgiveness, healing and freedom for people being held against their will around the world.
In a brief two-minute statement at their church in Indianapolis, Paula Kassig said their son had proved that "one person makes a difference."
"Rather than letting the darkness overwhelm him, he has chosen to honor the good," she said. "Our hearts are battered, but they will mend. The world is broken, but it will be healed in the end, and good will prevail."
The militant group ISIS announced the death of Abdul-Rahman Kassig, 26, in a grisly propaganda video released Sunday. The White House called his killing "an act of pure evil." Kassig — who went by the name Peter before he converted to Islam — was captured in Syria in October 2013, and ISIS had warned that he would be executed. Friends, family and colleagues had issued public appeals for mercy.
IN-DEPTH
- Friend of Kassig: Beheaded Humanitarian 'Didn't Give In' to Fear
- ISIS Victim Abdul-Rahman Kassig Died Serving Mideast's Vulnerable
SOCIAL
— M. Alex Johnson
