France pays its last respects to priest killed by extremists

In a show of interfaith solidarity, Muslims and Jews were among the mourners at a funeral service for Father Jacques Hamel at Rouen cathedral.

Mourners gather in the rain outside Rouen cathedral on August 2, 2016, during a funeral service in memory of Father Jacques Hamel who was killed last week by attackers pledging allegiance to ISIL. Jacky Naegelen/ReutersShow less

ROUEN // France paid its last respects on Tuesday to Father Jacques Hamel, the 85-year-old priest murdered by extremists last week, at an emotional funeral held under tight.

Some 2,000 mourners packed Rouen cathedral, a soaring Gothic sanctuary in the northern region of Normandy, with hundreds more watching the ceremony on a giant screen outside.

“As brutal and unfair and horrible as Jacques’ death was, we have to look deep into our hearts to find the light,” said Rouen Archbishop Dominique Lebrun.

A section of pews was filled by residents of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, the nearby industrial town where two extremists, both 19, slit Hamel’s throat as he celebrated mass in an attack that shocked the country as well as the Catholic Church.

A red stole, symbolising Christ’s martyrdom, was draped over a giant cross beside the altar, with the Rouen diocese explaining that “Father Hamel’s death was similar to that of Christ, unjustly convicted and put to death”.

Another red stole was set atop a white priest’s vestment lying over Hamel’s coffin.

In a show of interfaith solidarity, Muslims and Jews were among the mourners.

“It was a duty,” said Hassan Houays, a Muslim maths teacher from Saint-Etienne. “We are here so that we can get along together.”

Reconciliation was an overarching theme of the mass, which recalled Jesus urging his followers to “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”.

Hamel’s sister Roselyne told the congregation: “Let us learn to live together. The world has so much need for hope.”

Archbishop Lebrun said the Christian, Muslim and Jewish communities had “decided to come together to say ‘never again’”.

On Sunday Rouen cathedral, along with churches across France, had opened its doors to Muslims wishing to show their solidarity after the grisly attack.

Security was tight for Hamel’s funeral, with around 20 riot police vans stationed around the cathedral and police closely checking mourners’ bags and backpacks.

Hamel is to be buried in a ceremony attended only by close family members, at a location that has not been revealed.

The frail octogenarian became the latest victim of terror in France when the two attackers stormed his church in the small Normandy town of 30,000 people.

Abdel Malik Petitjean and Adel Kermiche had pledged allegiance to ISIL and both were shot dead by police after a tense hostage drama in which a worshipper was left seriously wounded. Three other hostages escaped unharmed.

The attack stunned France’s religious communities, sparking fears of tensions in a country with a population of some five million Muslims, Europe’s largest.

The series of jihadist attacks in France has raised tough questions about security failures, but also about the foreign funding of many mosques.

French interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve, whose portfolio also includes interfaith relations, said on Monday that authorities had shut down around 20 mosques and prayer halls considered to be preaching radical Islam since December.

“There is no place ... in France for those who call for and incite hatred in prayer halls or in mosques,” he said.

* Agence France-Presse